Ranil Wickremesinghe, the UNP leader who is battling for position of prime minister, has called for the Sri Lankan police force to adhere to the speaker of parliament’s demands in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that will see parliamentarians reconvene tomorrow.
“Today we have witnessed a resounding victory for the people’s franchise,” Wickremesinghe said on the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily stay an order from president Maithripala Sirisena to dissolve parliament.
“The powers of the president are limited and he must act according to the law,.” He added. “He is not above the law.”
With Colombo having been plunged into political crisis for weeks following the reappointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister, Wickremesinghe said that he wanted “to remind the police that the honourable speaker is in charge of parliament and is responsible for the security of parliament, so they must adhere to what the speaker says”.
His comments come on the back of the Sri Lankan police force’s top chief stating earlier in the week that he would act on orders from Sirisena. Sirisena earlier claimed that the dissolution of parliament was needed to prevent “street fights in every part of the country”.
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