Lankan row: President suspends Parliament
13 April 2018 5:45 PM GMT
Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday suspended Parliament for nearly a month, in a surprise move in the backdrop of the ongoing political turmoil in the country.
There was no official reason given for the decision.
The unity government of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) was thrown into a crisis after former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's new party pulled off a stunning victory in February's local elections seen as a referendum on the ruling alliance.
The President made the decision to prorogue Parliament by virtue of the powers vested in him by Article 70 of the Constitution.
In a special gazette bearing number 2066/43, Sirisena stated, "do by this proclamation, prorogue Parliament with effect from the midnight of the Twelfth day of April and fix the eighth day of May, Two Thousand Eighteen as the date for commencement of the next session of Parliament". Parliament was to meet on April 19 after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year holidays.
Earlier on Friday, six ministers of Sirisena-led unity government resigned, days after they voted in favour of a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The ministers from the SLFP sent their resignation to the President late last night. The president had appointed four acting ministers and made them in charge of departments held by the six SLFP ministers.
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