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Sri Lanka president reconvenes parliament to extend emergency powers

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

[JURIST] Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced Wednesday that the dissolved Sri Lankan Parliament will reconvene to ratify a one-month extension to the current state of emergency. Rajapaksa dissolved parliament last month to prepare for April elections, but, under the Sri Lankan Constitution, the president's emergency powers can be extended for only one month at a time, and the extension must be approved by parliament within ten days of the president's declaration. Rajapaksa announced the extension of emergency powers on Tuesday, claiming that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elan (LTTE) still pose a threat. Parliament is expected to reconvene next week. Last month,the Sri Lanka Supreme Court rejected a petition to release opposition presidential candidate and former general Sarath Fonseka, who is being held over an alleged coup plot. It is believed that Rajapaksa called early parliamentary elections 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. Earlier last month, 37 people, most of them military officers, were arrested in connection to an alleged assassination attempt against Rajapaksa. The Sri Lankan Supreme Court ruled last month 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, saying violence and vote-counting irregularities invalidated the outcome.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 04, 2010 (boomark / email).