Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Stays Sirisena’s Order to Dissolve Parliament

The decision on Tuesday was the latest in a protracted political crisis triggered by Sirisena’s surprise move on October 26 to fire prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replace him with Mahinda Rajapaksa, a controversial former president.

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to dissolve parliament until next month in a further twist in the country’s political crisis.

Sirisena dissolved parliament on Friday night and called a general election for January 5, two weeks after removing his coalition prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The top court, hearing a punch of petitions by supporters of Wickremesinghe, stayed the president’s order on technical grounds, a Reuters reporter in court said.