Emergency declared

President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday (5) declared a state of emergency as the country plunged into political uncertainty following the sacking of three ministers on Tuesday.

President Kumaratunga used her executive powers to declare a state of emergency which gave authority to the security forces to arrest and detain suspects.

The move followed Tuesday’s sacking of ministers of defence, interior and information. She also provogued parliament till November 19.

The UNF government budget was scheduled for November 12.

The emergency laws would be in force for a period of 10 days, the maximum period allowed without parliamentary approval, officials said.

Any continuation of the extraordinary laws would require parliament to be resummoned to ratify her decision, officials said.

The country was under a state of emergency, apart from a few short breaks, from March 1983 until October 2001.

Despite the political uncertainty, the streets remained calm. There was a large presence of troops at state media institutions.

The president appointed new heads to all state electronic media institutions and the state controlled print media, Lake House on Tuesday night.