President dismisses speculation of dissolving Parliament

COLOMBO (News1st): Sri Lanka's President has dismissed speculations of reconvening the dissolved Parliament amidst a delayed poll, as constitutional experts predicted that the country is heading towards a constitutional impasse. The country's law requires the new Parliament to be convened before June 2 - three months since Parliament was dissolved, but the national election commission (NEC) has fixed the date of the general election to June 20. "The new Parliament can be convened only if the election is held," President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in an interview with his advisor Lalith Weeratunge on Monday. "If (the new) Parliament cannot be convened by June 2 after conducting an election, I will have no power to convene Parliament." President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, on March 3, had issued a gazette dissolving Parliament while announcing that the parliamentary elections will be held on April 25. “…if that cannot be reached for whatever the reasons, his proclamation becomes invalid,” former lawmaker M.A Sumanthiran said during the Face the Nation programme hosted by News1st on Monday. However, the President, in his interview said that "there is no need to convene Parliament". The NEC has cautioned that failing to reconvene Parliament on time would result in a constitutional impasse.