Sri Lanka president takes charge of economy as coalition rift widens

Jan 20, 2018

Sirisena said he would directly manage the economy through a special economic council headed by him.

PIC: Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena. (Credit: AFP)

SRI LANKA - Sri Lanka's president announced Saturday that he would take control of the island's economy from the prime minister, as relations worsen between the ruling party and its main coalition partner.

Maithripala Sirisena said he would directly manage the economy through a special economic council headed by him, taking over the responsibility from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his United National Party (UNP).

"Although the UNP was allowed to manage the economy in the past three years, from this month, the President will take it over," his office said in a statement.

Sirisena joined hands with the UNP to topple Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015, ending the strongman president's decade in power.

But since then, their alliance has fractured, with Sirisena clashing with free-market champion Wickremesinghe over economic policy.

There was no immediate reaction from Wickremesinghe to the decision, which came after a heated cabinet meeting in which Sirisena accused the UNP of unleashing a smear campaign against him, according to sources close to the president.

AFP

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