In order to complete his removal of former ally Ramil Wickremesinghe as prime minister, President Maithripala Sirisena must convince the legislature to approve his new choice, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
However, it is not apparent that he has the votes and now President Sirisena has been accused of attempting to bribe MPs into switching sides.
Sirisena has suspended Parliament in the meantime, but if enough MPs endorse Rajapaksa when it reconvenes, the president may pull off what his opponents are calling a constitutional coup.
Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith reports from Colombo.
