Sri Lanka’s political crisis deepened on Friday as President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament and announced snap polls on January 5 after it became evident that he did not have enough support in the House for Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was appointed by him under controversial circumstances.
Sirisena signed a gazette notification to dissolve the nation’s parliament with effect from Friday midnight, in another surprise move that came after two weeks of political and constitutional turmoil. According to the gazette notice, nominations to contest the snap election would be taken between November 19 and 26. The election would be held January 5 and the new Parliament would be convened on January 17.
Sirisena issued a gazette noticing that Parliament stood dissolved some 21 months ahead of its schedule in August 2020, amid a worsening constitutional crisis triggered by the surprise sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The dissolution comes hours after a close aide of the president said Sirisena had decided that there will be no snap elections or a national referendum to end the current political and constitutional crises in Sri Lanka.
Analysts said Friday’s dissolution was again unconstitutional in terms of the four-and-half-year term rule in the 19th Amendment. “We vehemently reject the dissolution of Parliament. He [Sirisena] has robbed the people of their rights,” Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) said in a statement. Sirisena signed an official notification dismissing the 225-member assembly well ahead of its August 2020 term expiry, state television reported.
Sri Lanka was plunged into a political crisis after Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 26 and replaced him with his former rival, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Wickremesinghe, who dubbed the October 26 move as a “constitutional coup”, had refused to vacate his official residence, saying he was the lawful prime minister and that the president had no constitutional right to replace him. Wickremesinghe’s request for a floor test to prove his majority in the House was turned down.
Wickremesinghe cited the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in which the president has been barred from sacking a prime minister or dissolving Parliament before the expiry of its four-and-half-year term. After Wickremesinghe’s sacking, Sirisena suspended Parliament until November 16. It was to allow Rajapaksa to muster the 113 seats required to prove his majority. Sirisena had earlier claimed at a public rally that he has the support of 113 parliamentarians in the House to prove the premiership of Rajapaksa.
