^{File photograph. Sri Lanka's current president Maithripala Sirisena}

Sri Lanka’s president claimed that he had to dissolve parliament in a surprise announcement on Friday or else there would have been “commotion and fights in every city and every village”.

Maithripala Sirisena defended the move, which deepened Sri Lanka’s ongoing political crisis, by stating it was needed to avoid “street fights in every part of the country”.

“It appeared to me that, if I allowed the Parliament to be convened on the 14th, without dissolving it, it could have brought about commotion and fights, in every city and every village would lead to very unpleasant and difficult situation for the average citizens of my beloved country,” he added.

Sirisena went on to say that “the solution to many burning issues in the country such as the current high cost of living, achieving a prosperous economy, strengthening local industries, obtaining clean foreign investments, building a cultured and disciplined society, and strengthening democracy is to conduct an election and give the people the choice”.

He also cited issues such as “the Central Bank robbery after 2015, the involvement in various corrupt practices since then and finally the political crisis… and the value placed on Members of Parliament” as “extremely unfortunate developments” that required a snap election.

“While reminding all these, I urge you most respectfully to extend fullest cooperation to the efforts to take our great Motherland to be a peaceful, progressive and economically prosperous nation with a great governing structure and an ethical, cultured society that preserve our heritage, customs, traditions, ethics and culture,” he concluded.

See the full text of his statement here.