Sri Lankan Special Task Force officers stand guard outside the Parliament in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Nov. 14, 2018. Both Sri Lanka's sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse claimed they would continue to be in office following a no confidence vote against Rajapakse ended in chaos in the parliament on Wednesday. (Xinhua/A.Hapuarachic)

Both Sri Lanka's sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse claimed they would continue to be in office following a no confidence vote against Rajapakse ended in chaos in the parliament on Wednesday.

Hours after the parliament was adjourned, Wickremesinghe said the motion had been passed with a majority through a "voice vote."

He told journalists in a media briefing from the parliamentary complex that 122 legislators in the 225-member parliament had signed a motion favoring the no confidence vote, and it was handed to Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya.

"Now that the motion has been passed, the government which ruled before Oct. 26 will come back into effect. I am informing the police and state officials not to carry out any orders handed over by the illegal government," Wickremesinghe said.

However, Dinesh Gunawardena, legislator from Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna headed by Rajapakse, said the vote of no confidence had been invalid as the parliament speaker had not followed the normal parliamentary traditions by calling for an electronic vote.

He said the new government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Rajapakse would continue in office and all ministries would continue to function under the new regime.

The parliament was thrown into chaos earlier on Wednesday after a no confidence motion against Rajapakse was presented to Speaker Jayasuriya.

The no confidence motion was presented by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) legislator Anura Kumara Dissanayaka and seconded by JVP legislator Vijitha Herath.

However, when the motion was taken up for a vote, legislators from Rajapakse's party broke out in protest, prompting the prime minister to leave the floor of the House and the parliament session was adjourned till Thursday.

Sri Lanka has been embroiled in a political unrest since Oct. 26, when President Sirisena surprisingly sacked his cabinet and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and appointed former president Rajapakse to the post and appointed a new caretaker government.

Wickremesinghe's United National Party called the sacking illegal and called for the parliament to convene to prove their majority.

President Sirisena last Friday dissolved the parliament and called for a snap parliamentary election in January next year, but the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in a ruling on Tuesday.