Sri Lanka was plunged into political and economic uncertainty last week after its president sacked the prime minister and replaced him with a man he once pledged to investigate for human rights abuses, all the while suspending parliament for three weeks so no vote on the country’s true leader could be held.
Here’s all you need to know about the crisis engulfing the island nation and the key players involved.
On October 26, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena removed his United People’s Freedom Alliance from the country’s national unity government. On the same day, he announced that he had appointed a new prime minister.
The problem was that the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who leads the United National Party (UNP), had not been unseated in accordance with the constitution, so he has refused to leave office, literally. He remains camped inside the prime minister's official Temple Trees residence in Colombo, which is surrounded by his supporters to prevent his removal.
The president has refused to convene parliament, suspending it for three weeks, even though the incumbent prime minister says he has a parliamentary majority and can prove it in an immediate vote. Some observers say Mr Sirisena is trying to buy time to court enough support for his replacement.
Mr Wickremesinghe and Mr Sirisena have had a fractious relationship in which each man has tried to undermine the other, leading to a dysfunctional ruling coalition. The pair’s relationship has become almost untenable after rows over economic reforms, investigations into military abuses against the Tamil minority in the last weeks of the civil war in 2009, and an alleged assassination plot hatched in New Delhi that Mr Sirisena claims his prime minister had a hand in.
The latter survived a no-confidence vote in April that was quietly supported by the president. Not patient enough to wait until elections in 2019, the president made his move last week in what Mr Wickremesinghe has decried as a “coup”.
The man he is supposed to be replaced by has posed more questions than answers to Sri Lanka’s problems. Mahinda Rajapakse, the country’s former president, is a man who divides opinion in the country. He is popular among the majority Sinhalese population but rights groups, journalists and the Tamil minority fear that Sri Lanka will return to the dark days of his rule between 2005 and 2015. He is accused of rights abuses, corruption, a crackdown on essential freedoms and saddling the country with billions of dollars of debt to China during his time in power.
His popularity among voters that saw him sweep two terms quickly dissipated after he appeared bolder with every year that he ruled. He scrapped two-term limits for the presidency in a bid to keep the position for life and became known for handing influential positions to family members. His fall from grace resulted in him being voted out in 2015.
All three figures are now headed for a showdown, but when that takes place remains unclear. Mr Rajapakse told a meeting at his office, barely two kilometres away from his political rival's, that parliament will convene on November 5. But the president’s spokesperson said parliament will convene only after November 16 when the suspension of parliament is lifted. It remains unclear when lawmakers will vote on who should be the prime minister. The winner would require 113 votes from the 225-seat parliament.
The speaker of the parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, has refused to take sides but warned that if the crisis is not resolved inside the halls of parliament then there could be a “bloodbath” on the streets of the country that has emerged from decades of civil war.
A shooting at the Petroleum Ministry on Saturday killed two people and wounded one in the first violence related to the turmoil. On Tuesday, thousands of Sri Lankans protested in the capital to demand that Mr Sirisena immediately convene parliament for a vote.
Whether the president does a U-turn and resolves this crisis of his own creation is far from clear. Mr Rajapakse retains support and his appointment is seen as a move by Mr Sirisena to strengthen his own position.
What has perplexed observers is that Mr Sirisena was appointed on a mandate to look into Mr Rajapakse’s role in the killings of Tamils at the end of the civil war almost a decade ago. Not only has he failed to investigate him, his wider family and his allies, but he has now picked him as his right-hand man.
With his appointment, investigations into alleged crimes and corruption within Mr Rajapakse’s circle could be dropped if he leads the government, political observers said.
And, for many Sri Lankans, the president's actions are not only an affront to Mr Wickremesinghe, but an attack on Asia’s oldest democracy.
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Read more:
Sri Lanka political crisis splits allies
Editorial: Sri Lanka's political dramas expose its wider vulnerabilities
Sri Lanka president suspends parliament after sacking PM
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Brief scores:
Toss: South Africa, chose to field
Pakistan: 177 & 294
South Africa: 431 & 43-1
Man of the Match: Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
Series: South Africa lead three-match series 2-0
FORSPOKEN
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Final%20Fantasy%20XVI
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Diablo%20IV
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Baldur's%20Gate%203
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The%20Legend%20of%20Zelda%3A%20Tears%20of%20The%20Kingdom
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Assassin's%20Creed%20Mirage
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Starfield
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Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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MATCH INFO
Kolkata Knight Riders 245/6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 214/8 (20 ovs)
Kolkata won by 31 runs
'Avengers: Infinity War'
Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Company%C2%A0profile
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if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Company%20Profile
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
