The leader of the EPDP, a pro-government Tamil paramilitary organisation accused of committing human rights abuses throughout and after the war, has been given a ministerial portfolio responsible for several key Tamil issues.

The paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda was appointed ‘Minister of Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Northern Development, and Hindu Religious Affairs’ today in the cabinet of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Ranil Wickremesinhge’s media division denied reports that he had requested United Nations Peacekeeping Forces to be deployed in Sri Lanka on Monday.

The rebuttal came after a letter addressed to international embassies requesting assistance in handling political arrest, that was signed by Wickremesinghe, had been circulated amongst media outlets.

Speaking to the sundaytimes.lk, Wickremesinhe’s media office said a fake letter had been sent to embassies using a forged signature.

Sri Lanka’s finance minister claimed that his security detail had been withdrawn this morning, as the political turmoil on the island continued.

Finance minister Mangala Samaraweera, a staunch support of Ranil Wickremesinghe, tweeted,

Sri Lankan police on Monday arrested Sri Lanka’s Minister of Petroleum Arjuna Ranatunga after one of his bodyguards shot into crowds blocking him from entering his office.

The police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara told Reuters, “Colombo Crime division arrested Ranatunga over the shooting incident and he will be produced to the court shortly.”

The arrest came as petroleum trade unions aligned with Rajapaksa’s SLPP threatened indefinite strikes until Ranutunga was arrested.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former president that oversaw the massacres of tens of thousands of Tamils, celebrated his appointment as Sri Lankan prime minister by visiting Buddhist monks in Kandy on Sunday.

Canada has called on Sri Lanka to ensure that it meets commitments it made to the international community amidst a political crisis on the island triggered by the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and Ambassador to the Maldives, David McKinnon, stated today that

The US State Department has called on Sri Lanka’s president “to immediately reconvene parliament” as the political crisis on the island continues following the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister on Friday.

“The United States continues to follow developments in Sri Lanka with concern,” said the State Department press release.

The Hindu has slammed the current Sri Lankan president’s appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as “blatant abuse of his executive powers” that has “put democracy in serious peril”.

“Guided by narrow political interests, the President’s actions betray an utter disregard for the parliamentary process,” said the Hindu editorial on Monday.

“All this has come at a time of economic fragility, with a plummeting rupee, soaring unemployment and rising living costs.”

“Sri Lanka cannot afford to recede from the democratic space that opened up in 2015,” continued the editorial.

Tamil Nadu parties and key political figures have unanimously condemned the appointment of the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka's prime minister due his role in war crimes and mass atrocities committed against Eelam Tamils in 2009. 

Sri Lankan plunged into political crisis on Friday as the president, Maithripala Sirisena sacked the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Rajapaksa. 

The Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami pledged to continue his predecessors fight to bring Rajapaksa to justice at an international court. 

The ratings agency Moody's on Monday expressed concern over Sri Lanka pointing to the unfurling turmoil after the president sacked the prime minister on Friday and appointed the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. 

Stating the crisis was credit negative, Moody's warned the country may struggle to refinance external debt at an affordable rate early next year. 

The Sri Lankan rupee fell 0.58 percent today, to an all time low.