Sri Lanka’s new prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose legitimacy remains unclear, said on Sunday that the election called for January to decide on the country’s true premier would go ahead, despite a legal challenge from the party of his ousted rival.
The former strongman, who served as Sri Lanka’s president from 2005 to 2015, said that he would “seek a mandate from the people” after President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved parliament late Friday, plunging the country into deeper political acrimony.
The elections are set for January 5, despite criticism from the United States and European Union member states. Ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his backers say they will also challenge the president’s decision at the country’s highest court.
"The election will go ahead and I am confident we will sweep the election," he said on Sunday in his first remarks since the polls were called.
"The international community must realise that this is democracy. They must understand our position. We are seeking a mandate from the people."
He said “no one” could prevent the vote from taking place. But the United National Party of Mr Wickremesinghe plans to put a stop to the election at the Supreme Court.
“We will go to the courts,” Mangala Samaraweera, finance minister for Mr Wickremesinghe, said on Saturday. “We will fight in the courts, we will fight in parliament and we will fight at the polls.”
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Read more:
Sri Lanka's Tamils fear bloody return of 'Tiger killer' Mahinda Rajapaksa
Sri Lankan press freedom crushed following Mahinda Rajapaksa’s return
Inside Temple Trees: Prime minister’s bungalow becomes Sri Lanka’s seed of resistance
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Mr Wickremesinghe insists he still heads the government and has refused to vacate the prime minister's official residence in Colombo.
Mr Sirisena dissolved parliament less than a week before the legislature was expected to vote on either Mr Rajapaksa or Mr Wickremesinghe.
Mr Sirisena's party had acknowledged that it did not have a majority in the 225-member assembly, despite arranging eight defections from Mr Wickremesinghe's party.
Only China has recognised Mr Rajapaksa's appointment as prime minister. The US expressed concern that Mr Sirisena was not adhering to the country’s constitution.
"The US is deeply concerned by news the Sri Lanka parliament will be dissolved, further deepening the political crisis," the US State Department said.
"As a committed partner of Sri Lanka, we believe democratic institutions and processes need to be respected to ensure stability and prosperity."
Election monitors have questioned the legality of the election, which comes nearly two years ahead of schedule.
The People's Action for Free and Fair Elections, one of two officially sanctioned election monitoring groups, said it believed Mr Sirisena's actions were unconstitutional.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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