ISAS Briefs

President Maithripala Sirisena has become one of the most controversial Presidents in Sri Lanka’s history. From winning the Presidential elections against his former political chief, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and leading a minority government to appointing his former political foe, Ranil Wickremesinghe, as the Prime Minister for eight months until the General Elections in 2014 and more recently replacing him with Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister, Sirisena has courted one controversy too many. On 9 November 2018, he sprang another political surprise by unconstitutionally dissolving the Parliament. Against this backdrop, this paper attempts to provide an understanding of Sirisena’s political career, and his motives and actions.