The United States on Friday called on all Sri Lankan political parties to "act in accordance with their constitution" and "refrain from violence," in the wake of political turmoil in the country caused following the removal of its Prime Minister by the President.
"The US is following events in #SriLanka. We call on all parties to act in accordance with SL's constitution, refrain from violence, and follow due process," the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs tweeted.
"We expect government of SL to uphold its Geneva commitments to human rights, reform, accountability, justice, and reconciliation," it added.
Earlier on Friday, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former president, who was accused of human rights abuses, brazen nepotism. Rajapaksa took oath as the new Prime Minister soon after the appointment.
Sri Lankan Minister of Finance and Media, Mangala Samaraweera denounced the move as "illegal and unconstitutional" and tweeted, "The appointment of @PresRajapaksa as the Prime Minister is unconstitutional and illegal. This is an anti-democratic coup.
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