Sri Lanka's new president is set to dissolve parliament shortly and call snap a legislative election six months ahead of schedule, a state-run newspaper said Sunday. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to exercise his constitutional power to sack the assembly when it completes four-and-a-half out of its five-year term on Sunday night, the Sunday Observer said.
Rajapaksa, 70, won a landslide at November presidential polls and appointed his older brother and former president Mahinda as prime minister in a move that saw the family consolidate their hold on power.
"The Gazette Extraordinary will be issued announcing the dissolution of the present parliament at the end of the completion of four-and-a-half years in terms of the provisions of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution," the Observer said quoting its sources at Rajapaksa's office. Official sources told AFP that a general election was most likely in the final week of April if the 225-member national assembly is dissolved by Monday as widely expected.
Mahinda, who had been president twice and prime minister thrice, is expected to lead the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP, or People's Front) party to a comfortable victory.
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