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Gotabaya seeks to take control of Parliament at ‘earliest opportunity’ 

Newly-elected Gotabaya Rajapaksa stated that he will seek a snap parliamentary election “at the earliest opportunity”, in the wake of his resounding victory at Sri Lanka’s presidential polls last week. 

Though Sri Lanka's existing parliamentary term ends next August, the constitution allows the president to dissolve the legislature and push for an election as early as March 2020.

Currently, Rajapaksa and his allies have just 96 legislators out of a 225-member Parliament, reports Al Jazeera. 

However, he will be aiming to ride his current wave of popularity and secure a majority for his Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party (SLPP). Rajapaksa won last week’s presidential polls with are sounding majority, despite being overwhelmingly voted against by Tamils across the North-East. Soon after taking office, Rajapaksa appointed his older brother Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister of Sri Lanka.

See more from Al Jazeera here.

 

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