Ex-minister to pose 'serious challenge' to Sri Lankan President
- Date 26.11.2014
The decision by Sri Lanka's health minister to resign and run in the upcoming snap presidential elections could present a real challenge to the South Asian nation's current leader, as Nira Wickramasinghe tells DW.
The announcement by Maithripala Sirisena on November 21 came as a blow to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had declared the previous day that he would seek an unprecedented third term as president and called a snap election. The vote is scheduled to take place in early January.
Talking to reporters at a press conference, Sirisena said "one family has taken control of the economy, power and the party. The country is moving towards a dictatorship."
