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Sources within state media organization Lake House claim that various unknown individuals from outside the organization have been brought in to monitor its activities and assist in carrying out its publication duties.

According to sources the individuals claim they are from the Ministry of Mass Media and have been assigned to supervise the organization and are seen working in the editorials of the newspapers despite not being staffers.

On October 26, Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This sudden challenge to Sri Lanka's regime blindsided some political observers and members of the international community. To those for whom the political upheaval matters the most, however, it came as no surprise. 

Mahinda Rajapaksa was feared by political opponents, his critics and the Tamil-speaking people on the island during his ten-year reign between 2005-2015. Under his rule, activists, journalists and politicians with opposing views were harassed, intimidated, abducted and even murdered. Now that he is back, activists fear they will once again become open targets for their country's government.

Rajapaksa's brother, Gotabaya, is also expected to return to the political frontline as result of Friday's shakeup. Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as Defence Secretary during his brother's tenure as president and oversaw the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils in 2009, at the final phases of the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the armed movement fighting for Tamil self-determination. Tamil activists are fearful that if he returns to a position of authority, he can once again encourage violent repression of dissident voices.

The Rajapaksa brothers have been plotting for a political comeback since their downfall in 2015. Tamil activists, who say they always knew Rajapaksas would one day return, are now revisiting their safety protocols, switching to secure messaging apps and sharing emergency contact details.

They speak in hushed voices as if someone is listening. They sound uneasy but also resigned to another period of repression, painfully aware of the inevitability of a crackdown that has been so regular since the establishment of the Sri Lankan state 70 years ago.

"Mahinda's [Rajapaksa] return was expected. Despite that, nothing prepared me for the shock and paralysing fear that came when it happened," one woman, who had been participating in protests to locate thousands of Tamils that had disapeared during the decades long Sri Lankan civil war, told me. "We are in fear of our lives," she added.

However, not all Sri Lankans are fearful about the return of the Rajapaksa brothers. Most Sinhala people - who are the majority in Sri Lanka - are not equally bothered by the President's decision to sack the prime minister. Some are even celebrating the change of government the way they celebrated the defeat of the LTTE in 2009. That year Tamils across the country had barricaded themselves inside their homes fearing for their lives, mourning their losses in private, as the rest of the country celebrated a victory that cost tens of thousands of civilian lives.

"In 2009 they lit firecrackers while we hid inside. Today, again they are celebrating while we once again familiarise ourselves with a fear close enough in the past to remember, but, until now, possibly far enough for us to shut away,” the partner of a person disappeared in the civil war told me, as the news broke.

Three years of partial calmThe ousting of Rajapaksa, and the three years of relative stability that followed, allowed for the Tamil people to become more visible in civil spaces in Sri Lanka. The protests by family members of the tens of thousands of Tamils that had disappeared throughout the country's devastating civil war have become a particularly remarkable show of defiance and resistance by the Tamil people. These women-led protests gripped the attention of the Tamil population around the world, sparking solidarity protests and gaining international media coverage. 

Other once-forbidden events, such as commemorations of state-sponsored massacres, have also resurfaced in the last three years, yielding vastly increased numbers of attendance. Last year, over ten thousand Tamils braved the watchful eyes of the ever-present military to attend "Maaveerar Naal" - the Tamil national remembrance day, when the fallen LTTE cadres are remembered. 

However, Tamils in Sri Lanka still faced some discrimination and repression during this period.The coalition government's initial pledges for reform and to provide accountability for the crimes committed by the state during the civil war slowly gave way to rhetoric reminiscent of the Rajapaksa-regime they had displaced, causing Tamils to become increasingly disillusioned. Surveillance, harassment and intimidation of Tamil activists and journalists in Sri Lanka also increased substantially over time. Only last week, the harassment of a prominent Tamil journalist by state forces was highlighted by Reporters Without Borders.

Scared of being targeted for past activismNow that the Rajapaksa brothers are back in power, the threat facing Tamil activists and journalists is more imminent than it has ever been since 2015. Journalists have already begun to self-censor. Some are deleting content from their social media accounts, while others are deleting public accounts altogether. At least one journalist has left the country.

Last year a journalist told me how a prior period of relative peace in 2001 led to many activists being more open in their political resistance, and caused them to eventually become targets of state retribution. "Once the ceasefire broke down, they targeted us," he said. "Many colleagues and friends were killed." After taking advantage of the relative liberalisation experienced so far under Sirisena's presidency and participating in overt political resistance , Tamil activists are now scared history may repeat itself. They fear that their increased visibility in the last three years may cause them to be targeted by the new government or its affiliated groups. 

Today as the supporters of Wickremesinghe and Colombo's liberal elite continue to argue about the legality of Sirisena's actions, and as Rajapaksa loyalists work tirelessly to strengthen their new found grip on power, those most affected by the lengthy conflict, and most vocal in their political dissent, are considering what to do next. But whatever they decide to do, they can't protect themselves from possible state hostility and repression, without some help from the international community.

International responsibilityThroughout Rajapaksa's tenure as president Western powers occasionally asked the Sri Lankan government to demonstrate a clear commitment to human rights and accountability, but they never attached any decisive timelines or punitive actions to these demands. When Rajapaksa was ousted from power and replaced by Sirisena in 2015, most global actors chose to believe the new government's pledges for reform and allowed it to lead any reconciliation and accountability efforts.

Within the same year, a US-backed UN resolution that called for a "hybrid" court involving international judges to investigate the alleged crimes against humanity committed during the war was adopted with Sri Lanka's support. However within months, Sri Lanka began backtracking from its commitments in the resolution - pledging that no foreigners would be allowed to take part in any such mechanism. In turn, the US and other western countries, toned down their demands for a "hybrid court" and supported Sri Lanka's desire to deal with the crimes domestically - a fatal mistake, one that betrayed thousands of Tamils' longing for justice.In the following years, despite concerns raised by Tamils, international actors encouraged Tamil activists and journalists, as well as other dissidents, to participate in state initiatives for reconciliation and to exercise their civil liberties, even though there was no reliable,  structure offering them long-term protection from possible state retribution. This, as we can clearly see now, put even more people at risk.

The justice sought by Tamils is for horrendous violations of international humanitarian law, that preclude any possibility of domestic accountability. The perpetrators of these crimes remain free. And even more worryingly, the politicians that oversaw these crimes are now back in power.

However, it is still not too late for the international community to rectify past mistakes. Sri Lankan authorities have been given an easy ride after committing horrendous crimes so far and the relative stability of the last three years allowed the world to turn a blind eye to ongoing injustices. Now the world can, and should, take action to protect the most vulnerable members of the Sri Lankan society. A message needs to be sent to whoever is in charge of the Sri Lankan government: The state can not get away with the crimes it already committed, and it will not be allowed to commit new ones. 

Any Sri Lankan government should be made to understand that repurcussions will be severe if it refuses to commit to significant reforms and a genuine process of accountability for war crimes. If the international community fails to guarantee this, Tamils of Sri Lanka will inevitably face yet another era of repression, persecution and pain.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.

The security provided to Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera is said to have been removed following an order by President Sirisena.

The move comes after the security of the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe was removed yesterday

The Minister revealed this on Twitter today.

All appointments made by the so-called new government are deemed illegal and we will take stern action against the individuals accepting them, Minister of Finance and Media Mangala Samaraweera said today. 

Samaraweera in twitter message reiterated that Rajapaksa formed this government through a coup and not through a constitutionally accepted process. Therefore, the so-called government has no legitimacy to operate in office.

The Minister also went on to say that as the democratically elected government with a clear majority in Parliament, they will defeat the coup and establish a stable government through a democratic and constitutionally accepted process through Parliament. 

He also said that many foreign countries including international bodies such as the United Nations have stressed the need to respect the constitutional process and to uphold the rule of law.

Speaking to the Press at Temple Trees, Parliamentarian Harshana Rajakaruna said that not a single Head of State has congratulated or acknowledged the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister as yet.

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena turned out to be a willy fox, contrary to all expectations, and yet he fell into the trap carefully laid by former president and newly-appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, according to informed sources.

Like in 2014-15 when Sirisena ousted pro-China Rajapaksa, he has once again stunned Sri Lanka.

This time though with a bloodless coup against Ranil Wickremesinghe. And when Wickremesinghe refused to step down as prime minister and  sought to prove majority, Sirisena moved fast to suspend the parliament.

Till December 2014, political analysts in Sri Lanka had never thought that Sirisena will betray Rajapaksa. He did that. Until this month, nobody had thought that he was going to betray Wickremesinghe. He did that, but this time in a move orchestrated by Rajapaksa, sources indicated to ET.

The political and constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka is unlikely to end any time soon. Through his hasty and unconstitutional acts, Sirisena seems to have caused damage to his credibility, experts say.

It may be recalled that in December 2014, Sri Lanka’s joint opposition, led by former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga and then leader of opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe had declared that Sirisena would take on incumbent Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election.

Sirisena, a mild-mannered senior minister in the Rajapaksa cabinet, quit and crossed over to the opposition to take on the pro-China president. Rajapaksa was stunned.

In a closely fought election, Sirisena defeated Rajapaksa, who tried to cancel the election results, but the move was foiled by army and police chiefs. Rajapaksa stepped down, handing over the charge to Sirisena.

Sirisena appointed Wickremesinghe as the prime minister. The Rajapaksa era was over, so thought many.

A few months later, the Lankan parliament was dissolved. The United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) came together to form a national unity government under Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. It ended last Friday.

In the first two years, both the leaders shared an excellent chemistry and China received a setback.

Media and civil society, who were under constant threat during the Rajapaksa regime, heaved a sigh of relief.

Friday’s developments were set in motion in early 2017. Rajapaksa and MPs close to him exploited and even fuelled the rift. Sirisena and Wickremesinghe differed over several vital issues. They even fought in public over the handling of several domestic issues.

Rajapaksa was successful in driving a wedge between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe, including the conspiracy theory that India was trying to assassinate the president.

When Sirisena was chosen to take on Rajapaksa, the joint opposition had claimed that his personal integrity and mild manners would be their trump card against the incumbent president. Sirisena's Buddhist moorings also helped the opposition dent Rajapaksa's carefully-built Buddhist image.

Wickremesinghe had said that Sirisena was the best choice before them at the time. Even Kumarathunga had expressed faith in Sirisena, who had served in her government before Rajapaksa succeeded her in 2015. (Economic Times)

Parliamentarian Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne today said that the removal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was unconstitutional as President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Mr. Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister of the UNF government on August 21, 2015 and not as the Prime Minister of the national government.

He said that three Ministers namely Tilak Marapana, Wijedasa Rajapakshe and Mangala Samaraweera were also appointed to the Cabinet after 2015 general election. The national government was formed on September 2nd on an agreement reached between the UNP and the UPFA and accordingly the Cabinet was expanded to 42 members.

“This means if and when the UPFA leaves the government status quo remains and the government under Ranil goes back to the UNF Cabinet remained before September 2. Therefore, removal of Ranil from the premiership is unlawful and unconstitutional,” Dr. Wickramaratne who is also a constitutional expert stressed.

Dr. Wickramaratne told a press briefing that had been called by the ‘Lawyers for Democracy’ (LfD) that the Constitution does provides for the removal of the PM only under certain provisions though appointed by the President.

“President can’t sack him only because he does not like his face, his action or his policies. Prime Minister loses his post only after he looses the confidence of the majority of members in Parliament, loses his Parliament membership or the government loses a finance Bill or the budget in Parliament. Under the Constitution, there is no other way to sack him,” Mr Wickramaratne, added.

This move is clearly unconstitutional and undemocratic for the reasons wearers the 19th Amendment has restricted the President's powers in relation to Parliament as well as Cabinet, including removal and appointment of a Prime Minister. Power to remove the Prime Minister, previously vested in the President, was entirely removed by the 19th Amendment, which was introduced to ensure that arbitrary powers exercised by prior executive Presidents could not undermine basic democratic governance. This change was intentional, he emphasized.

Appointment of a Prime Minister under Article 42(4) of the Constitution can arise only when there is a vacancy by virtue of a fresh election, resignation and on the removal consequent to a no-confidence motion. The appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as PM is void, given the absence of any of the three above conditions to date, Dr. Wickramaratne said

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe easily defeated a no confidence motion against him with a majority vote of 46 votes on April, 4 in Parliament. The government on last Thursday and Friday passed two finance Bills also, he said. (Daily Mirror)

Members of the Colombo diplomatic corps have twice rejected President Maithripala Sirisena's call to meet him, government sources said today. 

It is also reported that there is a possibility of Sri Lanka being slapped with economic and diplomatic sanctions if the government does not take immediate measures to resolve the current constitutional crisis by reconvening parliament.

Joining the UNP parliamentary group today at the Temple Trees MP Vasantha Senanayake assured his support for the UNP Prime Minister despite earlier claims of supporting the new appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the country’s unconstitutional Prime Minister. 

Speaking to reporters at Temple Trees today Senanayake said that he has some concerns over the direction the UNP is heading. However he said that in Parliament he will support the Prime Minister nominated by the UNP, whoever that may be.

MP Vadivel Suresh who yesterday met with Mahinda Rajapaksa is currently at the Temple Trees. He is set to address a press conference announcing his support to Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.

Sources say Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunge has succeeded to gain the support of a group of Sri Lanka Freedom Party parliamentarians against the unethical Maithree + Mahinda union. According to reports the group has agreed to act as independent MP’s within the parliament after a meeting held with CBK yesterday afternoon. The group of MP’s had claimed they are unable to even face their family members following the latest Maithree + Mahinda union. 

We gambled our lives in 2015 not to join hands with these killers and thieves, the group had claimed adding that despite the obstacles they had attempted to bring the country to the correct path.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to appoint former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister has raised fears about a return to past abusive practices in the country, Human Rights Watch said today.
 
The sudden announcement to sack Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, which he contends violates parliamentary processes and the constitution, was made without informing parliament or the cabinet, the New York-based advocacy organization said.
 
“Rajapaksa’s return to high office without any justice for past crimes raises chilling concerns for human rights in Sri Lanka,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. 

“The current government’s failure to bring justice to victims of war crimes under the Rajapaksa government reopens the door for past abusers to return to their terrible practices.”
 
“The media outlets, rights organizations, and victims’ groups who had been vocal and free from government threats now fear a return to anxiety and fear,” Adams said. “It is critical that governments that helped Sri Lanka’s return to a much more rights-respecting government act to ensure those gains are not lost.”
 
Meanwhile the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom have urged political parties in Sri Lanka to follow the Constitution and refrain from violence. The EU delegation, in a statement, urged Sri Lankan parties to follow the due institutional process and respect freedom of media. 
 
The statement added that the Ambassador of the European Union as well as those of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and the UK, are closely following the events as they are unfolding in the island nation. 
 
The US State Department has said it expects the government of Sri Lanka to uphold its Geneva commitments to human rights, reform, accountability, justice, and reconciliation. (Derana)

The arbitrary removal of a sitting Prime Minister in an unconstitutional manner will plunge the nation into a state of instability, fear and chaos, the Diocese of Colombo of the Church of Ceylon said.

Issuing a statement today (28) over the current constitutional crisis, the church said it was of the view that there are no provisions in the present Constitution to remove a sitting Prime Minister, as the 19th amendment has reduced the President’s executive powers and transferred such powers to the Prime Minister in Parliament. 

“The Democratic frame work enshrined in our Constitution should not be abused for political expediency. We urge the instruments of the State, Religious Institutions and all peace-loving people of our country to join hands to uphold Democratic values and peace with justice for all, as well as the rule of law for the greater common good of the people of our country, and the preservation of Democratic institutions so that all communities that call Sri Lanka home may live without fear and intimidation. We further call upon the Police and Tri Forces to act impartially and with restraint in the enforcing of law and order,” the statement said.

(Daily Mirror)