Colombo: President Maithripala Sirisena has decided that there will be no snap elections or a national referendum to end the current political and constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka, according to his close aide.
“No, no there won’t be a dissolution of parliament or a referendum,” Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa, the general secretary of President Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), told the party’s central committee meeting Thursday night.
Piyadasa was scotching rumours that Sirisena may opt for a snap poll with a dissolution of parliament well ahead of its August 2020 term expiry. The island was plunged into a political crisis after Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with his former rival Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Wickremesinghe, however, claims he is still the legally appointed prime minister. His request for a floor test to prove his majority in the House has been turned down and Sirisena has suspended parliament till November 14 – a move believed to allow Rajapaksa muster the 113 seats required in the 225-member House.
Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Monday slammed Sirisena’s “unconstitutional and undemocratic” actions to sack Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and suspend Parliament, saying he will not recognise Rajapaksa as the new premier unless he wins a floor test. (PTI)
