Maldives' ex-president congratulates Lanka's PM on parliament win, compares proceedings in both countries

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has congratulated Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday.

The self-exiled former president, who is currently in Denmark, congratulated the PM via a tweet on Thursday morning, highlighting that the parliament proceedings in Lanka “were a far cry” from how things are conducted in the Maldives.

“[In Maldives,] no confidence motions against the government result in President Yameen ordering the military to occupy parliament, arrest judges and overrun the state,” added Nasheed.

Nasheed’s own Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and PM Ranil’s United National Party (UNP) have maintained close ties over the years. The former president was one of the first to have congratulated Ranil after his reelection to the Prime Ministerial position in 2015.

Sri Lankan parliament took a no-confidence vote against prime minister Wickremesinghe on Wednesday, which he defeated comfortably with the votes of 122 legislators; 76 had voted to remove him, while 23 lawmakers had been absent during the meeting.

The motion was initiate by Sri Lanka’s joint opposition group in the parliament, led by the country’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The opposition had been against Wickremesighe appointing a Singaporean as the country’s central bank governor, who has since been accused of leaking inside information to benefit his son-in-law.

Opening up the debate on the motion, opposition lawmaker Dinesh Gunawardena had emphasized that the prime minister ‘is responsible for the scam’ as he had appointed the foreigner to head a sensitive institution.

While the son-in-law and another official have since been arrested, Sri Lankan authorities have sought Interpol’s help in arresting Arjun Mahendran, the former bank governor.