Sri Lanka: UNP plans to move impeachment motion against President Sirisena

As many as 113 members of United National Party (UNP) are in the process of signing an impeachment motion against President Maithripala Sirisena, which is expected to be submitted to the Speaker of Sri Lankan Parliament by Sunday evening.

As per the process, the UNP would need two-third of the majority which would be 160 votes to remove the President from office.

In addition, the lawyers of the now-ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are also exploring the possibility of moving Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, sources in UNP told ANI.

"We had planned to move a Vote of Confidence in the Parliament of Monday. But the President has prorogued the Parliament. The suspension of Parliament shows that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) lacks numbers," a UNP leader said.

This comes after President Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe on Friday night replacing him with former Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa following the collapse of the governing coalition between SLFP and UNP.

Hours after Wickremesinghe was sacked, he urged the Speaker to convene an emergency Parliament session on Monday so that he could prove his majority. However, amid the Constitutional turmoil, President Sirisena has suspended the Parliament till November 16.

Wickremesinghe in a statement insisted that he still holds the Prime Minister's office and cited Article 46 (2) of the Sri Lankan Constitution which states that Prime Minister shall continue to hold the office unless he resigns or ceases to be a Member of Parliament. Wickremesinghe has said that neither of the two has happened, hence, he cannot be dismissed abruptly.