In turbulent Sri Lanka's politics, decoding Sirisena's pact with Rajapaksa

If the Rajapaksa regime looks as if it is going to return in Sri Lanka, many in the country's armed forces will begin to feel extremely uneasy

Remember Giani Zail Singh, arguably the wiliest president India has ever had, who came close to dismissing Rajiv Gandhi’s government via a constitutional coup, notwithstanding the Congress’s unprecedented majority in the Lok Sabha?

Zail Singh failed. But Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka, didn’t. Last week, in one fluid stroke, he sacked Prime Minister and leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe, replaced him with Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) and opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and presented MPs with a fait accompli: If they wanted to stay MPs in the current Parliament, they needed to support Rajapaksa. If