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Sri Lanka president dissolves parliament, calls for early elections

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa dissolved Parliament on Tuesday and called for early parliamentary elections. The country's parliamentary elections could now be conducted as early as April 8, with the new parliament convening as early as April 22. It is believed that Rajapaksa is trying to harness momentum from the presidential election in January, in which he was re-elected, to gain more seats in parliament for his political party, Freedom Alliance. This move comes just one day after Sri Lankan military police arrested defeated opposition presidential candidate and former general Sarath Fonseka. The Sri Lankan Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) announced that Fonseka was arrested "in connection with certain fraudulent acts and other military offences." Officials said Tuesday that Fonseka will face a court-martial. Last week, 37 people, most of them military officers, were arrested in connection to an alleged assassination attempt against current Rajapaksa. The Sri Lankan Supreme Court ruled last week that Rajapaksa's second term will begin in November. The apparent victor in January's elections, Rajapaksa defeated Fonseka by an official margin of 18 points, winning re-election to a second term in office. Fonseka has disputed the results, however, saying violence and vote-counting irregularities invalidated the outcome.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 09, 2010 (boomark / email).