Rival lawmakers have exchanged blows in Sri Lanka's Parliament as the disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed the speaker had no authority to remove him from office by voice vote.
Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya said the country had no government as Parliament re-convened Thursday a day after the no-confidence vote against Rajapaksa. He said there was no prime minister, neither Rajapaksa nor his rival whose ousting in late October started the crisis.
More than two dozen lawmakers fought and some who fell on the floor were kicked by rivals. Some of Rajapaksa's supporters threw water bottles and trash cans in the House. The speaker then adjourned the proceedings of the House.
Rajapaksa said the no-confidence vote should not have been a voice vote. He also called for fresh elections.