President of Sri Lanka dissolves parliament and worsens political crisis

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved parliament on Friday night and called a general election on Jan. 5 to reinforce the political crisis in the country.

The dissolution, which should be challenged in court, was revealed in a notification to the Official Journal signed by Sirisena, which also set the next sitting of the parliament on 17 January.

The move came after an intense power struggle in the past two weeks following the sudden dismissal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe by Sirisena and the appointment of former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, a pro-Chinese strongman.

As a result of this dismissal, the Speaker suspended Parliament, which, according to Wickremesinghe, was aimed at preventing the deposed Prime Minister from challenging the decision in the Legislative Assembly.

Sirisena then agreed to reconvene Parliament on 14 November, but that will no longer happen.

Wickremesinghe refused to leave the prime minister's official residence, claiming that he was the prime minister and that he had a parliamentary majority.

Before signing the dissolution and parliament documents, Sirisena appointed his allies and those of Rajapaksa to ministerial positions.

"This is a flagrant violation of the constitution," Harsha De Silva, a Wickremesinghe party deputy, told Reuters, referring to the dissolution of parliament.

Independent legal experts told Reuters that the parliament could only be dissolved at the beginning of 2020, four and a half years after the first session of the current parliament. The only other legal means would be a referendum or with the consent of two-thirds of the legislators.

Given these views, the manner in which Sirisena can legally dissolve the Parliament was unclear, even though its legal experts stated that it had provisions to allow it to do so.

According to some local media, the Sri Lankan Electoral Commission said it would seek the Supreme Court's opinion before proceeding to the election.

Sirisena has also placed government police and printing in his defense portfolio, local media reported.

Ajith Perera, a legislator of the United National Party (UNP) led by Wickremesinghe, said the party would challenge the election commission's decision before going to the Supreme Court.

Perera said the breakup had occurred so Sirisena could avoid defeat in parliament next week.

Keheliya Rambukwella, spokesman for the government of Sirisena, said the president's coalition had received the support of 105 MPs this Friday, eight fewer than the parliamentary majority.

Sirisena said he had dismissed Wickremesinghe because the prime minister was trying to implement "a new extreme liberal political concept by giving more priority to foreign policy and neglecting the feeling of the local population".

India and Western countries have asked Sirisena to comply with the Constitution, while expressing concerns about Rajapaksa's close ties with China. Beijing lent Sri Lanka billions of dollars to finance infrastructure projects when Rajapaksa was president between 2005 and 2015, which deeply indebted the country.