Lanka crisis: Rajapaksa has support of 113 MPs to prove premiership, says President Sirisena
Colombo, Nov 5 : Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday claimed he has the support of 113 parliamentarians to prove the premiership of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
His comments came after Lankan Speaker Karu Jayasuriya earlier in the day slammed Sirisena's "unconstitutional and undemocratic" actions to sack Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and suspend Parliament, saying he will not recognise Rajapaksa as the new premier unless he wins a floor test.
"We have already got our 113 MPs, I will not take back the step I have taken forward... have taken all steps in accordance with the constitution," Sirisena told a public rally, referring to his decision to sack Wickremesinghe.
Sirisena suspended parliamentary proceedings until November 16 after abruptly firing Wickremesinghe and replacing him with Rajapaksa, a controversial former president, on October 26.
The Speaker had expected parliament to reconvene on November 7. However, Sirisena Sunday issued notice to reconvene Parliament on November 14.
Wickremesinghe, whose party dubbed the move a "constitutional coup", refused to vacate his official residence, saying he is the lawful prime minister and that the president has no constitutional right to replace him.
The rally, attended by thousands of supporters, was the first public show of Sirisena and Rajapaksa together after the island nation plunged into a constitutional crisis.
With eight United National Party and one Tamil National Alliance legislators defecting to Rajapaksa camp, he is now just eight seats short of the 'magic number' 113 to prove his majority in the 225-member House.
While addressing the rally, Sirisena said before opting for Rajapaksa as his prime ministerial choice, he had offered the premiership position to Speaker Jayasuriya and deputy PM Sajith Premadasa. "However, both of them refused to challenge their leader," Sirisena said.
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
