Former President and parliamentarian Mahinda Rajapaksa signed his resignation letter from the post of Premiership yesterday morning, at his residence in Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7.
In his farewell speech, after the signing, the former MP said the request by the President to form an interim government until the conclusion of the general election was not something to be turned down as the country was facing destruction at the hands of those running the government.
“Since I have no intention of remaining as Prime Minister without a general election being held, and not hamper the President efforts in any way, I will resign from the position of Prime Minister and make way for the President to form a new government. When I was sworn in as Prime Minister, on October 26, a feeling of optimism swept throughout the country,” he said.
Promising that the change that the people have been waiting for will be granted at the earliest possibility, he added that the coming together of the Joint Opposition and the SLFP group that was in the government has now created a power block that commands around 54% of the vote base.
Although the former President was appointed as the Prime Minister on October 26 it was challenged on several occasions in Parliament and in the courts, and he was unable to obtain a majority in Parliament.
Subsequent legal action filed in the Court of Appeal by Members of Parliament seeking a writ of quo warranto declaring that the appointment was bad in law was upheld and interim relief was granted by the court after the preliminary hearing.
An appeal against this was taken up by Supreme Court on Friday, December 14 before Justices Eva Wanasundara, Vijith Malalgoda and Buvaneka Aluwihare. The court by a majority order granted leave to proceed while Justice Malalgoda dissented on several questions of law. The court further unanimously decided to refuse interim relief.
Pledging to come back in full force, the former President reposed his unfettered confidence that he will always have the backing of the people, adding that there was no doubt at all that the people who stood by them since 2015, will continue to support them in the future as well. “We will bring the forces opposed to the country, down to their knees by organising the people,” he said.