Sri Lanka Supreme Court overturns dissolution of parliament

World
Europe

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a presidential decree to dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections, heightening the country's political uncertainty.

Later on Tuesday, Karu Jayasuriya, the speaker of Parliament, said the legislature would reconvene at 10 am (0430 GMT) on Wednesday, as originally scheduled.

Sri Lanka has been in political turmoil since President Maithripala Sirisena fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last month and appointed the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his place.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena poses for a photo at his official residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 13, 2018. /VCG Photo

Sirisena, facing international pressure, reconvened parliament on November 14, but on Friday, he suddenly dissolved it and ordered a general election for January 5.

But the Supreme Court, hearing petitions by supporters of Wickremesinghe, stayed the latest presidential orders until December 7. It will decide then on the petitions challenging the decree.

Sirisena did not have the authority to sack parliament, according to a constitutional amendment passed in 2015, the petitioners said.

Sirisena soon after the court decision met the security council in a bid to maintain peace and order, local media said.

Supporters of Sri Lanka's deposed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe celebrate after Supreme Court suspended a presidential decree to dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 13, 2018. /VCG Photo

Nimal Siripala, an ally of Sirisena, said an application will be made to the Supreme Court to refer the matter for the five-member full bench. The Tuesday verdict was decided by a three-member bench.

Wickremesinghe welcomed the court's decision as being in line with the constitution. "You can't play football with the constitution, and you can't bend the constitution as and how you want."

He said parliament should open on Wednesday when he hoped to prove his majority.

However, Sirisena's allies said a vote of confidence could not be decided by the parliament speaker.

(Top image: Sri Lanka's deposed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe speaks to media after Supreme Court suspended a presidential decree to dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections, during a news conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 13, 2018. /VCG Photo)

(With inputs from Reuters and AFP)