Power struggle: Sri Lanka president cuts PM’s duties
President takes away the central bank, the policymaking National Operations Room and several other institutions from the control of the prime minister
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has reduced the responsibilities of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as a power struggle worsened within their uneasy coalition.
Sirisena took away the central bank, the policymaking National Operations Room and several other institutions from the control of Wickremesinghe, who had held them since coming to power in January 2015.
The changes were published in a government gazette notice issued Wednesday which transferred the responsibilities to Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
There was no official explanation for why the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had been taken away from the prime minister’s control. In 2015 a central bank governor appointed by Wickremesinghe, Arjuna Mahendran, was accused of insider trading.
Sirisena appointed a special inquiry which cleared Wickremesinghe of any wrongdoing. But Mahendran was held responsible for passing sensitive information to his bond-dealer son-in-law Arjun Aloysius to make US$75 million in undue profits.
Sirisena joined hands with Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) to oust strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015 after a decade in power.