Sri Lanka’s president confirmed that he would ‘definitely’ dissolve parliament by March 2020, as he looks to consolidate his popularity amongst the Sinhala masses.
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.
According to Colombo Page, Rajapaksa said “he wanted a strong government to function”.
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Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party (SLPP) swept much of the Sinhala south in last month’s presidential elections but was resoundingly rejected by Tamil and Muslim voters in the North-East. Nevertheless his party is expected to have a strong showing in the parliamentary polls.
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