Political unrest to end in one week: Sirisena

COLOMBO, Dec 4 (Agencies): Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday asserted that the prevailing political unrest in the country would come to an end within one week.

Addressing the convention of Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Colombo on Tuesday afternoon, he said the decision on October 26 to sack Ranil Wickremsinghe as Prime Minister and form a new government, was correct and taken on behalf of the country.

The President accused the UNP leader of violating and murdering the concept of good governance adding that the only solution to this problem was to sack Wickremesinghe. He reiterated his stance that he will not reappoint Wickresminghe as PM even if all the MPs in parliament support him.

Meanwhile, Wickresminghe said the government should be constitutional and no one should act like Hitler. He asserted that it is only him and the UNF which commands a majority and requested President to work in accordance with the Constitution.

Wickresminghe insisted that the process to hold an election can take place only once a legal Government is in place. He said a legal Government can submit a motion to Parliament and if there is two-third majority, they can hold an election before the four and half year term of the current Parliament ends.

Meanwhile, two international credit rating agencies downgraded Sri Lanka by one notch on Tuesday following almost six weeks of political crisis.

Fitch said it believed Sri Lanka's political upheaval, which began with the sacking of its prime minister in October and has disrupted the functioning of parliament, exacerbates the Indian Ocean nation's external financing risks.

Along with Standard and Poor's, it warned that Sri Lanka was heading for tougher times with politics complicating the effects of a challenging external environment.