Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN) The President of Sri Lanka dissolved parliament on Friday and called a snap election for January 5, in a move aimed at ending a political standoff that has disrupted its capital, Colombo, for weeks.

Last month, President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and appointed controversial former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which triggered protests and violence leaving one person dead.

Wickremesinghe denounced Sirisena's attempt to remove him from office and refused to leave the official prime minister's residence, claiming the president does not have the power to take such action.

Just before Sirisena's announcement on Friday night, Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), attempted to call for a "floor test" in parliament to measure how much support Sirisena maintained.

UNP Chairman Kabir Hashim told CNN: "They do not have the numbers to show a 113 majority in the 225-seat Parliament."

Read More</s>Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Sirisena's opponents say his move is illegal

President Maithripala Sirisena has moved to dissolve parliament amid a political crisis following his attempt to replace Sri Lanka's prime minister.

The official notification, which took effect at midnight on Friday (17:30 GMT), would trigger a general election on 5 January.

However, it could be challenged in the Supreme Court.

The sacked prime minister's party says the president does not have the power to take such action.

Last month, President Sirisena named former strongman leader Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new prime minister after sacking Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his cabinet and suspending parliament.

But Mr Wickremesinghe has refused to leave, saying his sacking was illegitimate.

An MP from Mr Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) said the move to dissolve parliament was "illegal" and said he believed it would be rejected.

"We are requesting the election commission to solve this issue peacefully without creating a bloodbath in the country," Ajith Perera told the BBC.

BBC Sinhala's Azzam Ameen says the Sirisena-Rajapaksa camp are calling a snap election because they did not have enough support in parliament for their new government.

The UNP meanwhile would prefer a parliamentary vote to a national election at this time, our correspondent says.

What has led to this?

Mr Sirisena, the president, and Mr Wickremesinghe, the sacked prime minister, joined forces in the 2015 election to defeat the then long-time president, Mr Rajapaksa.

But their uneasy coalition has since fractured and Mr Sirisena announced he was sacking the PM and replacing him with Mr Rajapaksa.

The pair had reportedly clashed in cabinet recently over government plans to lease a port to India.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Mr Wickremesinghe has refused to leave office after his sacking

The sacking left the country with two people claiming to run the government. The ousted PM has refused to leave his residence, Temple Trees, arguing that the president's move is unconstitutional and calling for parliament to be convened quickly so a vote can take place.

Meanwhile, Mr Rajapaksa has sworn in a new cabinet and has also taken the post of finance minister. Four MPs aligned with Mr Wickremesinghe were given ministerial portfolios in a bid to win their support in parliament.

The crisis led to violence last month, when the bodyguard of the sacked oil minister fired at a crowd of protesters outside his office.

Regional rivals are watching events closely - China has congratulated Mr Rajapaksa, while India, the EU and US have called for the constitution to be respected.

Who is Rajapaksa?

Mahinda Rajapaksa is a popular but controversial figure. As president, he ended the decades-long civil war in 2009, but faced criticism for the means by which he achieved victory - many thousands of Tamil civilians are thought to have been killed by government forces in the final months of the fighting.

The military has always denied this, but it has remained a bitterly contentious issue and been the subject of intense scrutiny.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mr Rajapaksa has been accused of massive corruption and atrocities during the country's civil war

Mr Rajapaksa also signed several large infrastructural deals with China when he was in office - saddling Sri Lanka with billions of dollars in debt. The former president and his inner circle are also accused of corruption, which they deny.

Many in Sri Lanka are now worried about the fate of corruption cases targeting members of the Rajapaksa family, along with investigations into the murders of journalists and others under Mahinda Rajapaksa's 2005-2015 presidency, correspondents say.</s>COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president has dissolved Parliament and called for elections on Jan. 5 in a bid to stave off a deepening political crisis over his dismissal of the prime minister that opponents say is unconstitutional.

An official notification signed by President Maithripala Sirisena announced the dissolution of Parliament effective midnight Friday. It said the names of candidates will be called before Nov. 26 and the new Parliament is to convene Jan. 17.

Sri Lanka has been in a crisis since Oct. 26, when Sirisena fired his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa. Both say they command a majority in Parliament and had been expected to face the 225-member body on Wednesday after it was suspended for about 19 days.

Foreign Minister Sarath Amunugama told The Associated Press on Saturday that the president dissolved Parliament due to the need to go to the people to find a resolution to the crisis.

He said that on Wednesday “there was to be a lot of commotion and unparliamentary activities sponsored by the speaker.”

“The speaker was not planning to act according to the constitution and standing orders of Parliament,” Amunugama said.

Sirisena’s supporters had been irked by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s announcement that he was going to call for a vote for either party to prove their support.

“The dissolution clearly indicates that Mr. Sirisena has grossly misjudged and miscalculated the support that he might or could secure to demonstrate support in the Parliament,” said Bharath Gopalaswamy, director at U.S.-based analyst group Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center. “At the end of the day, he is a victim of his own homegrown crisis.”

Wickremesinghe has insisted that his firing is unconstitutional. He has refused to vacate his official residence and demanded that Parliament be summoned immediately to prove he had support among its members.

Jayampathy Wickramaratne, one of Sri Lanka’s foremost constitutional law experts and a member of Parliament representing Wickremesinghe’s United National Front coalition, said he and other coalition delegates met with the chairman of Sri Lanka’s Election Commission on Saturday and urged him not to take action toward the snap elections decreed by the president on Friday.

Wickramaratne said that President Sirisena has cited a general clause in Sri Lanka’s constitution stating that the president has the power to summon or suspend Parliament. But Wickramaratne said a specific clause in the 19th amendment, added in 2015, stipulates that the president can only dissolve Parliament after 4 1/2 years, or earlier if requested by two-thirds of Parliament.

“You cannot read the constitution in one provision in isolation — you have to read it as a whole, especially when amendments have been brought,” he said, adding that “before the 19th amendment, the president could dissolve Parliament at will after one year. The amendment will have been negated if this absurd argument is allowed to succeed.”

However, Wijayadasa Rajapaksa, another constitutional expert and Wickremesinghe’s justice minister who alongside Wickramaratne spearheaded the introduction of the 19th amendment, said the president was empowered to dissolve Parliament to avoid stalemate situations.

“When it comes to a stalemate situation or a constitutional deadlock, the president is obliged to take measures to avoid a conflict situation and political instability. Therefore, he has been compelled to take this decision and dissolve Parliament and he has the authority to do that,” said Rajapaksa, who is not related to the newly named prime minister.

Tensions had been building between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe for some time, as the president did not approve of economic reforms introduced by the prime minister. Sirisena has also accused Wickremesinghe and another Cabinet member of plotting to assassinate him, a charge Wickremesinghe repeatedly denied.

Sirisena was critical of investigations into military personnel accused of human rights violations during Sri Lanka’s long civil war against a Tamil separatist group, which ended in 2009. Rajapaksa, who ruled as president from 2005 to 2015, is considered a hero by the ethnic Sinhalese majority for winning the conflict. But he lost a re-election bid in 2015 amid accusations of nepotism, corruption and wartime atrocities.

Wickremesinghe’s camp is likely to contest Sirisena’s move because of constitutional provisions stating a Parliament can’t be dissolved until 4 1/2 years after its election. The current Parliament was elected in August 2015.

“It’s totally unconstitutional,” said Harsha de Silva, a member of Wickremesinghe’s United National Party and a former government minister. “Sirisena has relegated the constitution to toilet paper. We will fight this dictator to the end.”

The party said in a Twitter message that it will meet the elections commissioner to discuss the constitutionality of Sirisena’s move.

The U.S. State Department tweeted that it is deeply concerned by news that the Sri Lanka Parliament will be dissolved, “further deepening the political crisis.”

“As a committed partner of Sri Lanka, we believe democratic institutions and processes need to be respected to ensure stability and prosperity,” the statement said.

Earlier, U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and two other lawmakers wrote to Sirisena warning that actions circumventing the democratic process could impact U.S. assistance — including a planned five-year aid package from the Millennium Challenge Corporation worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

“We fear that recent actions, if not corrected, will threaten your country’s democratic development and derail the progress made in recent years,” the three lawmakers said in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Associated Press writers Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Emily Schmall in New Delhi and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.</s>COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday dissolved Parliament and called for fresh elections amid a deepening political crisis.

The government printer published a notification signed by Sirisena announcing the dissolution of Parliament effective at midnight Friday.

The notice says names of candidates for new elections will be called for one week from Nov. 19, and the election will be held on Jan. 5. The new Parliament is to be convened on Jan. 17.

Sri Lanka has been in a political crisis since Oct. 26, when Sirisena fired his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe has insisted his firing is unconstitutional. He has refused to vacate his official residence and demanded that Parliament be summoned to prove he had support among its members.

There were also calls both locally and internationally to convene Parliament to end the impasse.

Sirisena maintained his choice for prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, had a majority in Parliament, but the decision to dissolve Parliament shows that is not so.

"The dissolution clearly indicates that Mr. Sirisena has grossly misjudged and miscalculated the support that he might or could secure to demonstrate support in the Parliament," said Bharath Gopalaswamy, director at New Delhi-based analyst group Atlantic Council's South Asia Center.

"At the end of the day, he is a victim of his own homegrown crisis."

Wickremesinghe's camp is likely to contest Sirisena's move because of constitutional provisions stating a Parliament can't be dissolved until four and a half years after its inception. The current Parliament was elected in August 2015.

Wickremesinghe or his party officials could not be contacted immediately for comment.

Rajapaksa indicated what was coming hours before the dissolution in a speech. He said the government must go to the people for confirmation on whether the president made the correct decision when he appointed him as prime minister.

Associated Press writer Emily Schmall in New Delhi, India, contributed to this report.</s>COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s state media said Friday that President Maithripala Sirisena has dissolved Parliament amid a deepening political crisis.

State television network Rupavahini said Sirisena signed a notification announcing the dissolution of Parliament effective at midnight Friday. The notification has been sent to the government printer, according to the report.

The notice will become official once it’s published, and it is required to include dates for nominations for fresh elections. The law requires nominations be called between 10 and 17 days from the time of the announcement of an election, and the polls are required to be taken between the fifth and eighth week from the day nomination closes.

Sri Lanka has been in a political crisis since Oct. 26, when Sirisena fired his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe has insisted his firing is unconstitutional and has refused to vacate his official residence. He also has demanded that Parliament be summoned to prove his majority.

There were calls both locally and internationally to convene Parliament to end the impasse.

Sirisena maintained his choice for prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, had a majority in Parliament, but the decision to dissolve Parliament shows that is not so.

Wickremesinghe’s camp is likely to contest Sirisena’s move because of constitutional provisions stating that the Parliament can’t be dissolved until four and a half years after its inception. The current Parliament was elected in August 2015.</s>COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday dissolved Parliament and called for fresh elections amid a deepening political crisis.

The government printer published a notification signed by Sirisena announcing the dissolution of Parliament effective at midnight Friday.

The notice says the names of candidates for new elections will be called before Nov. 26, and the election will be held on Jan. 5. The new Parliament is to be convened on Jan. 17.

Sri Lanka has been in a political crisis since Oct. 26, when Sirisena fired his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe has insisted his firing is unconstitutional. He has refused to vacate his official residence and demanded that Parliament be summoned immediately to prove he had support among its members.

Sirisena had suspended Parliament for two weeks in a move Wickremesinghe's backers said was designed to buy time to shore up support.

There were calls both locally and internationally to convene Parliament to end the impasse.

Amid the pressure, Sirisena announced Parliament would be summoned Nov.14. He maintained his choice for prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, had a majority in Parliament. However, the decision to dissolve Parliament shows that is not so, observers say.

"The dissolution clearly indicates that Mr. Sirisena has grossly misjudged and miscalculated the support that he might or could secure to demonstrate support in the Parliament," said Bharath Gopalaswamy, director at New Delhi-based analyst group Atlantic Council's South Asia Center.

"At the end of the day, he is a victim of his own homegrown crisis."

Wickremesinghe's camp is likely to contest Sirisena's move because of constitutional provisions stating a Parliament can't be dissolved until four and a half years after its inception. The current Parliament was elected in August 2015.

"It's totally unconstitutional," said Harsha de Silva, a member of Wickremesinghe's United National Party and a former minister.

"Sirisena has relegated the constitution to toilet paper. We will fight this dictator to the end."

The party said in a Twitter message that it will meet the elections commissioner to discuss the constitutionality of Sirisena's move.

Earlier, U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and two other lawmakers wrote to the Sri Lankan president expressing grave concern over the country's political developments.

They warned that actions circumventing the democratic process could impact U.S. assistance — including a planned five-year aid package from the Millennium Challenge Corporation worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"We fear that recent actions, if not corrected, will threaten your country's democratic development and derail the progress made in recent years," the three lawmakers said in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Rajapaksa indicated what was coming hours before the dissolution in a speech. He said the government must go to the people for confirmation on whether the president made the correct decision when he appointed him as prime minister.

Associated Press writer Emily Schmall in New Delhi, India, and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.</s>Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena dissolves parliament: The political turmoil in Sri Lanka deepened on Friday, November 9, after President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Parliament, calling for early elections in the country on January 5, almost 2 years ahead of schedule. Sirisena signed an official order dismissing Sri Lanka’s 225-member assembly after his party lost to prove strength in support of ex-president Mahinda Rajapakse. The dissolution comes following the unprecedented political turmoil after Sirisena sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, replacing him by Rajapakse.

Following the unprecedented decision, Wickremesinghe refused to accept the move and sought a vote in the Parliament to prove his majority, however, Parliament was suspended and was scheduled to reconvene, it was dissolved on Friday by Sirisena. To this, Wickremesinghe said he would certainly challenge the decision in the court and the party would move an impeachment motion against the President saying, he is a threat to the democratic tradition of Sri Lanka.

He also pointed out that he clearly rejects the dissolution of the Parliament, citing the Constitutional validity of the move, which does not allow the President to dissolve the House within four-and-a-half years of rule under the 19th Amendment to Sri Lanka.

While the President’s legal team has invoked Article 33(2) c of the Constitution, which gives power to the President to prorogue, summon and dissolve Parliament.

The move was welcomed by Rajapaksa, who wrote on Twitter, that general election will truly establish the will of the people of Sri Lanka and proceed for a stable country.

On the other hand, Shreen Saroor, a human rights activist, who has very actively protested against Sirisena’s move, called the dissolution “yet another unconstitutional move”.</s>Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament late on Friday amid a political crisis that erupted in the island nation since October 26, local media reported.

Sirisena signed a special gazette notification, dissolving the Parliament from Saturday , Xinhua quoting a report said.

The island nation has been facing a political turmoil since October 26, when President Sirisena dissolved his cabinet and sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed former president Mahinda Rajapakse to the post.

Wickremesinghe, who called his sudden dismissal illegal, has urged Parliament to convene immediately to prove his majority in the 225-member unicameral chamber.

 President Sirisena suspended Parliament till November 14.</s>Sri Lanka’s president has dissolved Parliament and called for elections on January 5 in a bid to stave off a deepening political crisis over his dismissal of the prime minister that opponents say is unconstitutional.

Sri Lanka’s president has dissolved Parliament and called for elections on January 5 in a bid to stave off a deepening political crisis over his dismissal of the prime minister that opponents say is unconstitutional.

An official notification signed by President Maithripala Sirisena announced the dissolution of Parliament effective from midnight on Friday.

It said the names of candidates will be called before November 26 and the new Parliament is to convene on January 17.

Sri Lanka has been in a crisis since October 26, when Mr Sirisena fired his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Both say they command a majority in Parliament and had been expected to face the 225-member house on Wednesday after it was suspended for about 19 days.

Foreign Minister Sarath Amunugama told reporters that the reason for the president to dissolve Parliament was the need to go to the people to find a resolution to the crisis.

“On the 14th there was to be a lot of commotion and unparliamentary activities sponsored by the speaker,” Mr Amunugama said.

“The speaker was not planning to act according to the constitution and standing orders of Parliament.”

Mr Sirisena’s supporters had been irked by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s announcement that he was going to call for a vote for either party to prove their support.

“The dissolution clearly indicates that Mr Sirisena has grossly misjudged and miscalculated the support that he might or could secure to demonstrate support in the Parliament,” said Bharath Gopalaswamy, director at US-based analyst group Atlantic Council’s South Asia Centre.

“At the end of the day, he is a victim of his own homegrown crisis.”

Mr Wickremesinghe has insisted his firing is unconstitutional. He has refused to vacate his official residence and demanded that Parliament be summoned immediately to prove he had support among its members.

Tensions had been building between Mr Sirisena and Mr Wickremesinghe for some time, as the president did not approve of economic reforms introduced by the prime minister.

Mr Sirisena has also accused Mr Wickremesinghe and another Cabinet member of plotting to assassinate him, a charge Mr Wickremesinghe repeatedly denied.

Mr Sirisena was critical of investigations into military personnel accused of human rights violations during Sri Lanka’s long civil war against a Tamil separatist group, which ended in 2009.

Mr Rajapaksa, who ruled as president from 2005 to 2015, is credited as a hero by the ethnic Sinhalese majority for winning the conflict.

But he lost a re-election bid in 2015 amid accusations of nepotism, corruption and wartime atrocities.

Mr Wickremesinghe’s camp is likely to contest Mr Sirisena’s move because of constitutional provisions stating a Parliament cannot be dissolved until four-and-a-half years after its election.

The current Parliament was elected in August 2015.</s>Sri Lanka's president dissolved Parliament and called for elections on Jan. 5 in a bid to stave off a deepening political crisis over his dismissal of the prime minister that opponents say is unconstitutional.

An official notification signed by President Maithripala Sirisena announced the dissolution of Parliament effective midnight Friday. It said the names of candidates will be called before Nov. 26 and the new Parliament is to convene Jan. 17.

Sri Lanka has been in a crisis since Oct. 26, when Sirisena fired his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa. Both say they command a majority in Parliament and had been expected to face the 225-member house on Wednesday after it was suspended for about 19 days.

Foreign Minister Sarath Amunugama told The Associated Press on Saturday that the reason for the president to dissolve Parliament was the need to go to the people to find a resolution to the crisis.

"On the 14th there was to be a lot of commotion and unparliamentary activities sponsored by the speaker," Amunugama said. "The speaker was not planning to act according to the constitution and standing orders of Parliament."

Sirisena's supporters had been irked by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya's announcement that he was going to call for a vote for either party to prove their support.

"The dissolution clearly indicates that Mr. Sirisena has grossly misjudged and miscalculated the support that he might or could secure to demonstrate support in the Parliament," said Bharath Gopalaswamy, director at U.S.-based analyst group Atlantic Council's South Asia Center. "At the end of the day, he is a victim of his own homegrown crisis."

Wickremesinghe has insisted his firing is unconstitutional. He has refused to vacate his official residence and demanded that Parliament be summoned immediately to prove he had support among its members.

Tensions had been building between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe for some time, as the president did not approve of economic reforms introduced by the prime minister. Sirisena has also accused Wickremesinghe and another Cabinet member of plotting to assassinate him, a charge Wickremesinghe repeatedly denied.

Sirisena was critical of investigations into military personnel accused of human rights violations during Sri Lanka's long civil war against a Tamil separatist group, which ended in 2009. Rajapaksa, who ruled as president from 2005 to 2015, is credited as a hero by the ethnic Sinhalese majority for winning the conflict. But he lost a re-election bid in 2015 amid accusations of nepotism, corruption and wartime atrocities.

Wickremesinghe's camp is likely to contest Sirisena's move because of constitutional provisions stating a Parliament can't be dissolved until 4 ½ years after its election. The current Parliament was elected in August 2015.

"It's totally unconstitutional," said Harsha de Silva, a member of Wickremesinghe's United National Party and a former minister. "Sirisena has relegated the constitution to toilet paper. We will fight this dictator to the end."

The party said in a Twitter message that it will meet the elections commissioner to discuss the constitutionality of Sirisena's move.

The U.S. State Department tweeted that it is deeply concerned by news the Sri Lanka Parliament will be dissolved, "further deepening the political crisis."

"As a committed partner of Sri Lanka, we believe democratic institutions and processes need to be respected to ensure stability and prosperity," the statement said.

Earlier, U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and two other lawmakers wrote to Sirisena warning that actions circumventing the democratic process could impact U.S. assistance — including a planned five-year aid package from the Millennium Challenge Corporation worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"We fear that recent actions, if not corrected, will threaten your country's democratic development and derail the progress made in recent years," the three lawmakers said in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Rajapaksa indicated what was coming hours before the dissolution in a speech. He said the government must go to the people for confirmation on whether the president made the correct decision when he appointed him as prime minister.
President Maithripala Sirisena dissolves Parliament.