Sri Lankan parliament votes against newly-appointed Rajapaksa govt

Colombo: Sri Lanka's parliament passed a motion of no-confidence in the controversially appointed government of Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday, a day after the Supreme Court overturned a presidential decree dissolving the legislature.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya ruled that a majority of the 225-member assembly supported a no-confidence motion against Rajapaksa who was made prime minister on October 26 in place of Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The result does not automatically mean that Wickremesinghe, whose party is the biggest in parliament, has won the constitutional showdown.

President Maithripala Sirisena retains the power to choose the next prime minister.