Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday Nov 09,2018 dissolved
parliament in a gamble that a new election will get backing for his
preferred candidate as prime minister over an ousted premier who has
refused to give up, a minister said.
Sirisena announced that snap elections will be held on January 5,2019 after he signed a decree dismissing the island's 225-member assembly just hours after his party admitted it did not have enough votes to get support for former president Mahinda Rajapaksa against rival claimant Ranil Wickremesinghe
Sirisena sparked the crisis on October 26 by naming Rajapaksa, the country's authoritarian president from 2005 until 2015, as prime minister after sacking Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe has since refused to leave the premier's official residence while the president also suspended parliament to head off any revolt against his action.
In the latest twist in the crisis, Sirisena's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) said ahead of the president's stunning announcement they were at least eight legislators short of getting a majority for Rajapaksa in the assembly.
The leftist People's Liberation Front (JVP), which regards the sacking of Wickremesinghe as unconstitutional, accused Sirisena of trying to consolidate his power grab. "Dissolving parliament at this time is illegal and goes against the constitution," JVP general secretary Tilvin Silva told reporters.
Sirisena suspended parliament to give himself more time to engineer defections, according to the opposition. Several legislators have said they were offered millions of dollars to switch allegiance and at least eight have already jumped to the president's side.
Wickremesinghe, who has not left the Temple Trees residence since his sacking, maintains that the action against him was unconstitutional and illegal, and insists his group can muster a majority.
Sirisena announced that snap elections will be held on January 5,2019 after he signed a decree dismissing the island's 225-member assembly just hours after his party admitted it did not have enough votes to get support for former president Mahinda Rajapaksa against rival claimant Ranil Wickremesinghe
Sirisena sparked the crisis on October 26 by naming Rajapaksa, the country's authoritarian president from 2005 until 2015, as prime minister after sacking Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe has since refused to leave the premier's official residence while the president also suspended parliament to head off any revolt against his action.
In the latest twist in the crisis, Sirisena's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) said ahead of the president's stunning announcement they were at least eight legislators short of getting a majority for Rajapaksa in the assembly.
The leftist People's Liberation Front (JVP), which regards the sacking of Wickremesinghe as unconstitutional, accused Sirisena of trying to consolidate his power grab. "Dissolving parliament at this time is illegal and goes against the constitution," JVP general secretary Tilvin Silva told reporters.
Sirisena suspended parliament to give himself more time to engineer defections, according to the opposition. Several legislators have said they were offered millions of dollars to switch allegiance and at least eight have already jumped to the president's side.
Wickremesinghe, who has not left the Temple Trees residence since his sacking, maintains that the action against him was unconstitutional and illegal, and insists his group can muster a majority.
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