Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena met with the heads of the military at his office in Colombo this evening, after his move to dissolve parliament was temporarily stayed by the Supreme Court.
Maithripala Sirisena met with the heads of the army, navy, air force, police and the chief of defence staff. The newly appointed Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ravinatha Ariyasinghe was also present at the meeting.
All branches of the Sri Lankan security forces, including the police, had met with Sirisena and his appointee for prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as they battled with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for the post, plunging the island into a political crisis.
Wickremesinghe hinted at fears of unrest following the Supreme Court decision calling on the police to obey orders from the speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament.
