Sri Lanka, Aug. 30 -- Although the arrest and the subsequent remanding of former President Ranil Wickremasinghe on August 22 was a law-and-order issue, the possible political fallout of it seems to be more important.

Despite Wickremasinghe having been accused of misusing state funds in this case, those leaders who charged him of thieving in the past have rallied around him now and even vow to form a broad political coalition against the National People's Power (NPP) government.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) alleges that the former President had used public funds to travel, along with his wife, Professor Maithree Wickremasinghe, to Wolverhampton University in England where she was awarded an honorary professorship, during ...