<p class="title">The swearing in of former president <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/sri-lankas-ex-president-700005.html" target="_blank">Mahinda Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister </a>is "illegal and unconstitutional", sacked premier Ranil Wickremesinghe asserted Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a dramatic turn of events, President Maithripala Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party withdrew from the ruling coalition and then sacked Wickremesinghe.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a telephonic conversation with a TV station, Wickremesinghe said "I will continue to be the Prime Minister. Mahinda Rajapaksa's appointment is unconstitutional".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Similarly, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera tweeted that "the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister is unconstitutional and illegal. This is an anti-democratic coup".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mahinda Amaraweera, agriculture minister and the general secretary of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), told reporters that the UPFA decision has been conveyed to Parliament.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Within minutes of the statement, Rajapaksa was invited by Sirisena to take oath as the Prime Minister.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The unity government was formed in 2015 when Sirisena was elected President with Wickremesinghe's support.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sirisena, who was Rajapaksa's minister of health, broke away from him to contest the presidential elections.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Political analysts said Sirisena's move to install Rajapaksa as the prime minister could lead to a constitutional crisis as the 19th amendment to the Constitution would not allow the sacking of Wickremesinghe as the premier without a majority.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine has only 95 seats and is short of a simple majority. Wickremesinghe's UNP has 106 seats on its own with just seven short of the majority.</p>
<p class="title">The swearing in of former president <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/sri-lankas-ex-president-700005.html" target="_blank">Mahinda Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister </a>is "illegal and unconstitutional", sacked premier Ranil Wickremesinghe asserted Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a dramatic turn of events, President Maithripala Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party withdrew from the ruling coalition and then sacked Wickremesinghe.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a telephonic conversation with a TV station, Wickremesinghe said "I will continue to be the Prime Minister. Mahinda Rajapaksa's appointment is unconstitutional".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Similarly, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera tweeted that "the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister is unconstitutional and illegal. This is an anti-democratic coup".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mahinda Amaraweera, agriculture minister and the general secretary of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), told reporters that the UPFA decision has been conveyed to Parliament.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Within minutes of the statement, Rajapaksa was invited by Sirisena to take oath as the Prime Minister.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The unity government was formed in 2015 when Sirisena was elected President with Wickremesinghe's support.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sirisena, who was Rajapaksa's minister of health, broke away from him to contest the presidential elections.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Political analysts said Sirisena's move to install Rajapaksa as the prime minister could lead to a constitutional crisis as the 19th amendment to the Constitution would not allow the sacking of Wickremesinghe as the premier without a majority.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine has only 95 seats and is short of a simple majority. Wickremesinghe's UNP has 106 seats on its own with just seven short of the majority.</p>