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Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday convened crucial talks with political leaders to end a power struggle with the prime minister whom he fired last month.
The Indian Ocean nation has been paralyzed since October 26, when Sirisena overthrew Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and replaced him with his former rival Mahinda Rajapakse.
Wickremesinghe insists that he is still Prime Minister while Parliament voted twice last week to reject Rajapakse.
"President Sirisena will chair a meeting of political party representatives in Parliament today," his office said in a statement.
"The President convened this meeting to put an end to the current political turmoil and conflict situation and to allow the normal functioning of Parliament."
The brawl broke out in Parliament with Rajapakse's loyalists destroying furniture, throwing chili powder and missiles at their rivals in order to disrupt a motion of censure against the disputed Prime Minister.
After the second vote against Rajapakse on Friday, Wickremesinghe demanded that his government be reinstated, but Sirisena has not yet responded.
Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka needed "stability" and that he was ready to collaborate with Sirisena despite the conflict of personalities that sparked the constitutional crisis.
After sacking Wickremesinghe on October 26, Sirisena dissolved parliament on November 9, but the Supreme Court suspended his action and reinstated Parliament pending a full hearing on the legality of his actions.
For 19 days, Sri Lanka had two candidates for the post of prime minister, but on Thursday, the speaker of parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, said that he would not recognize either of them as as Prime Minister. Officially, Sri Lanka no longer has government.
Legislators say that with the maintenance of the governing body, key sectors such as tourism are facing serious difficulties.
Both parties also warned that a prolonged vacuum could result in unrest.
