Guterres welcomes peaceful settlement of Sri Lankan political crisis

United Nations : Praising the "resilience" of Sri Lanka's democracy, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the resolution of the island nation's political crisis in a peaceful and constitutional manner, according to his spokesperson.

"The Secretary-General calls on all political actors to seize the opportunity of the appointment of the new cabinet to resolve outstanding political differences in the same spirit of respect for democracy and in the interest of the people of Sri Lanka," Guterres' Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has reinstated Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister following a Supreme Court ruling against his decision to dissolve parliament and hold early elections.

Sirisena appointed a 30-member cabinet on Thursday, while keeping control of the police.

Sri Lanka's political crisis was sparked on October 26 when Sirisena dismissed Wickremesinghe and appointed former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister.

Rajapaksa, who had presided over a brutal end to the nation's civil war, was unable to get a majority in parliament, which passed two votes of non-confidence against him.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)