Sri Lankan Parliament on Thursday witnessed a chaotic session as members got into fistfights and hurled objects at each other following the ouster of newly-sworn in Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
In the first session, after President Maithripala Sirisena prorogued the Parliament, Speaker of the House Kara Jayasuriya asserted that Sri Lanka has no Prime Minister or cabinet. He reiterated that neither Rajapaksa nor Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was ousted by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, was the Prime Minister of the South Asian island nation.
Following Jayasuriya's remark, Rajapaksa insisted on making a speech in the House. After the conclusion of Rajapaksa's statement, Member of the Parliament Lakshman Kiriella moved a motion of no confidence against it. The House was disrupted when the Speaker asked the members if they wanted to vote on the no-confidence motion.
This comes a day after Rajapaksa was voted out in the Parliament as the lawmakers showed no confidence in his government and the Prime Minister. The no-confidence motion was passed in the Parliament after 122 members voted against Rajapaksa in the 225-member House.
Sri Lankan Parliament was trashed as the supporters of Rajapaksa threw water bottles and dustbins in the House.
The South Asian island nation has been in a political turmoil after Sirisena sacked former Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and replaced him with the now-ousted Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on October 26.
Sirisena had also ordered the dissolving of the Parliament following which the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka issued an interim order staying the proclamation issued by Sirisena to dissolve the country's Parliament.