Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has asked the Supreme Court to determine whether there is any constitutional “impediment” to him contesting presidential elections for a third term in office.
Rajapaksa requested that the court answer a series of questions that he submitted to them on whether he can contest again, by 10 November.
The 18th amendment, which was passed by the Sri Lankan parliament in 2010, transferred power to the president to appoint individuals to quasi-independent commission bodies and abolished the two-term limit on all presidents.
The Asian Human Rights Commission described Rajapaksa's latest move as a "political trick".
Rajapaksa came to power in 2005 running on a Sinhala nationalist platform and was re-elected again in 2010 following the end of the armed conflict. Government spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella said that the government would be looking to hold elections in January 2015.
In 2013 Rajapaksa impeached the then Chief Justice of the Supreme court, in a move that was described as a “constitutional crisis”.
See our earlier post: Chief Justice sacked (13 January 2013)
Also see: Eighteenth amendment negates the 'wait for change' argument - Vinothini Kanapathipillai (01 October 2010)