Mahinda Rajapaksa's appointment as PM unconstitutional: Lanka Finance Minister

Sri Lankan Minister of Finance and Media, Mangala Samaraweera termed the appointment of the new Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, "illegal and unconstitutional".

"The appointment of @PresRajapaksa as the Prime Minister is unconstitutional and illegal. This is an anti-democratic coup," Samaweera took to Twitter to criticise the decision.

On Friday, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena sacked country's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with his (Sirisena) predecessor Rajapaksa after the collapse of the governing coalition between Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United National Party (UNP), New York Times reported. Sirisena's SLFP and Wickremesinghe's UNP had come together to form the Unity Government in August 2015 following the general elections in the country.

In April, the ousted Prime Minister, Wickremesinghe also survived a no-confidence motion in the country's Parliament that was brought by the supporters of Rajapaksa.

Interestingly, Rajapaksha, who served as president for a period of ten years, from 2005 to 2015 is a fierce political opponent of the current President Sirisena. Sirisena had defeated Rajapaksha in the Presidential election of 2015.