The SLPP, led by prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has won in 145 constituencies, bagging a total of 150 seats with its allies, a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament, according to the results announced by the election commission.
On July 9, protesters occupied President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's presidential palace and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's private house. The Prime Minister's Office was overrun on Wednesday.
Delhi finds itself between the rock and hard place in the coming Sri Lankan election, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
On the lingering Tamil issue, Modi said he was confident that the Sri Lankan government will carry forward the reconciliation process and fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil community.
President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Rajapaksa will transform Sri Lanka's political landscape after Thursday's electoral triumph, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran Colombo watcher.
'If there is a push towards a Marxist oriented government it will be dangerous.' 'We have seen this in Nepal and Myanmar and it will be a concern for India if it is surrounded by countries with such political dispensations.'
The anti-government protesters in Sri Lanka on Sunday continued to occupy the residences of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, a day after they stormed into the premises and set on fire one of the buildings protesting over the nation's severe economic crisis even as the island nation is still in the dark about the embattled President's whereabouts.
Sri Lankans queued up to apply for fresh passports outside the department of immigration and emigration office in Colombo.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
The protests seem unlikely to end until the people's anger and grievances with the leaders who have brought Sri Lanka to economic ruin are redressed.
A week from now, October 20, Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi will host Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
As angry protests calling for Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation grew, supporters of Sri Lanka's ruling party stormed a protest site in Colombo on Monday, attacking anti-government demonstrators and clashing with police.
Rajapaksa arrived in Thailand with three other people on a chartered flight from Singapore at Wing 6 of the military airport adjacent to Don Mueang International Airport around 8 pm local time on Thursday.
The dissidents, led by former president Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party, would leave the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna coalition with its 14 Members of Parliament, party sources said after their meeting with the President on Monday.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday fired Basil Rajapaksa from his post and invited the Opposition parties to join a unity Cabinet to tackle the raging public anger against the hardships caused by the economic crisis.
Ppolitical experts in Colombo said the ministers came under intense pressure from the public over the government's alleged "mishandling" of the economic crisis, triggered by the shortage in the foreign exchange reserve.
The five-time prime minister was re-appointed to the job on May 12 following the political circus precipitated by the unprecedented economic crisis in the island's history.
The violence occurred following reports on Monday that Mahinda Rajapksa may offer to stand down as Prime Minister.
During the 13-minute special session, Dhammika Dassanayake, ecretary general of Parliament, announced the vacancy for the post of president.
Gotabaya and Ranil's home in Colombo have become a picnic spot for Sri Lankans as they tour the premises. Some swam in Gotabaya's swimming pool, exercised in his gym, cooked breakfast and lunch, took a nap on the sofas, and, of course, took selfies.
The order was also imposed on parliamentarians Johnston Fernando, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Sanjeewa Edirimanne, Kanchana Jayaratne, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, C B Ratnayake, Sampath Athukorala, Renuka Perera, Sanath Nishantha, Senior DIG Deshabandu Thennakoon among others.
Glimpses of the protests in Colombo against the worsening economic crisis
The anti-government protests near the presidential secretariat in Colombo resumed on Sunday after the authorities lifted the nation-wide curfew to celebrate the Vesak -- what we call Buddha Purnima in India -- festival.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on Gotabaya Rajapaksa's flight.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday, hours after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters outside embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office, leaving at least 78 people injured and prompting authorities to impose a nationwide curfew and deploy army troops in the capital.
When the first flight arrived at Kushinagar airport on Wednesday, it was not Gota or Mahinda who stepped out, but another Rajapaksa. Namal Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's minister of sports.
Sri Lanka's main Opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) on Tuesday handed over to the parliamentary Speaker motions of no-confidence against the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition government and embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, even as the government announced the appointment of a cabinet sub-committee to look into the proposal for a new Constitution.
glimpses of the aftermath of Monday's mayhem after pro-government supporters attacked opponents of the Rajapaksa regime in Colombo.
Muralitharan is among the three new governors tipped to be appointed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Sri Lanka's former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is the youngest brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was stopped from boarding a flight to Dubai on Monday evening, local media reported.
The Sinhala and Tamil new year on Thursday, April 14, 2022, didn't halt the angry protests in Colombo against Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government outside the presidential secretariat.
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's residence in the city of Kurunegala in the north-western province was set on fire on Monday, hours after the leader tendered his resignation.
Outside parliament, Sri Lankans continued their protests against their newly elected president, who they charge with being close to the Rajapaksa political dynasty.
'A fragile Sri Lanka will have a serious impact on the security of India.'
The emergency was imposed because of the mass scale protests planned for April 3 against the current economic hardships faced by the people.
Mayhem prevails in Colombo after protesters enter President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's home; mysterious vandals set afire Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's private residence.
Warner and Marsh are part of the Australian team which is scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka in June-July to play three T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests.
The Government also defended the President's decision to enforce a state of emergency, that had given him sweeping authority to act in the interests of public security and preserving public order, including suspending any laws, authorising detentions and seizing property, saying it was declared after attempts were made to attack the President's Office and other public property.
In a statement released on the eve of General Naravane's visit, the Indian high commission in Colombo described Sri Lanka as India's 'Priority One' partner.
Thousands of protesters in Colombo broke through police barricades and stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence in the Sri Lankan capital, demanding he resign and accept responsibility for the island's gravest economic crisis that has caused thousands of Sri Lankans to live on one meal a day.
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