Allies of president boycott parliament

Allies of Sri Lanka's embattled President Maithripala Sirisena boycotted parliament yesterday as the country drifted into a second month of political turmoil.

Sirisena loyalists refused to show up at parliament in Colombo accusing the  speaker of the House  of bias.

The island has been politically paralysed since October 26 when Sirisena sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapakse. Parliament has twice voted against the former strongman president but he has refused to back down. Wickremesinghe, who holds a majority on the floor, has also not stepped aside.

The speaker of parliament has not recognised either man -- leaving the country adrift with rival factions claiming to command a government.

Their opponents taunted the president, who has ruled out reimposing Wickremesinghe even as Sri Lanka remains locked in a power vacuum.

The ousted prime minister's United National Party plans to move a motion in parliament Friday to block any new spending by Sirisena's administration.

Sri Lanka risks entering 2019 without parliament having approved a budget for the year.