
Queen Elizabeth addressing the opening session of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London. Among those on the stage is President Maithripala Sirisena (left extreme )

A lesser known fact among most politically literate Sri Lankans was a directive Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe issued to all parliamentarians of his United National Front (UNF) ahead of the National New Year. On Monday April 9 he told them to refrain from criticising the 16 Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MPs who had voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against him. That comprised six Ministers, the Deputy Speaker, four State Ministers and five Deputy Ministers.
Cabinet reshuffle and policy statement among President Sirisena’s priorities