Fight To The Finish

With support in the house and on the streets, Ranil Wickremesinghe is holding on to his seat of power.

- Lakshmi Subramanian

THE TRAFFIC CAME to a standstill. Pedestrians stood on pavements, watching protesters walk in from all corners to the Lipton Circus junction in Colombo. Only the cranes remained oblivious to the political drama on the streets, and continued to clear sand from the sprawling open ground close to the junction. Talking over the noise of the cranes, an emotional Ranil Wickremesinghe roared: “We are ready to face the elections. Let us have the presidential elections along with the prime ministerial polls.” The crowd cheered, waving flags and carrying placards that read ‘Let us kick out the illegal prime minister appointed by the president. Save democracy’.

Sri Lanka is at a crossroads, owing to the political crisis that began on October 26 when President Maithripala Sirisena ousted Wickremesinghe and appointed his former Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) boss, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the prime minister. Sirisena dissolved the parliament to hold early elections, but the Supreme Court stayed his order. And, the cranes provide a clue to the apparent bone of contention between allies-turnedfoes, Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. Colombo has been witnessing massive construction in recent years, thanks to the investment by China. So, ports, airports, commercial districts, marinas, malls, hotels, a motor racing track and huge housing projects are being developed in the island nation.