The Rajapaksas' return

Questions over the future of the new coalition in Colombo

In a sudden turn of events in Sri Lanka last week, the country’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, said he had dismissed the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Mr Sirisena had won a presidential election in 2015 and ousted Mr Rajapaksa, whom he had then accused of trying to kill him. Now, it seems, the two are willing to work together. Meanwhile, the increasingly unsteady coalition between Mr Sirisena’s and Mr Wickremesinghe’s parties has dissolved — although it remains open to question whether Mr Rajapaksa has the numbers in Sri Lanka’s parliament, which would be