Sri Lankan president orders dissolution of parliament
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena has ordered the immediate dissolution of the parliament, paving the way for snap polls in the country 10 months ahead of schedule.
“The president signed a gazette notification a short while ago dissolving parliament with effect from midnight today,” said government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne on Friday.
According to the notification, the elections were ordered to be held on August 17. The candidates will also have until July 13 to file nomination papers.
Under Sri Lanka’s law, elections should be held between 52 and 66 days after the parliament’s dissolution.
Sirisena was elected on January 8, replacing his predecessor and strongman Mahinda Rajapakse.
The move to dissolve the parliament came after Rajapakse’s loyalists repeatedly blocked the reforms pushed by the new government.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP), which faces three separate no-confidence motions from the opposition United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), also supported the parliament’s dissolution.
Rajapaksa first took office in 2005 and was re-elected in 2010 due to a popular wave of support for leading a military offensive to defeat Tamil Tiger rebels.
The United Nations has estimated that at least 100,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka’s separatist war between 1972 and 2009, when the government crushed the Tamil Tiger rebellion.
The new Sri Lankan government has been taking action to enhance the human rights situation in the country by introducing reforms and opening up the political atmosphere in the country.
HN/MKA/HJL
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