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COLOMBO, Dec. 12-- Sri Lanka's Parliament on Wednesday passed a vote of confidence on ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with 117 lawmakers from the 225-member Parliament voting in favor. The vote comes as incumbent Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and parliamentarians loyal to him boycotted sessions for the third consecutive week, alleging that Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya was acting in favor of Wickremesinghe and his United National Party (UNP). Following the vote, Wickremesinghe thanked all the parliamentarians who voted for him and promised to protect democracy in the island country. Rajapaksa loyalists, however, termed the vote as invalid, saying Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed as the prime minister and there was a government in place as the Court of Appeal had only temporarily suspended the government from performing its duties. Meanwhile, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has informed President Maithripala Sirisena on the results of the confidence vote, the Speaker's office said. Sri Lanka has been embroiled in a political turmoil since President Sirisena surprisingly sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed former president Rajapaksa as the prime minister as well as a new government in late October. | 
