To prevent anarchy Mahinda Rajapaksa calls for snap polls

With weekly Cabinet Meetings not taking place, the main Opposition led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday, called on the Government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to move a resolution seeking the dissolution of Parliament to prevent the country from anarchy.

President Maithripala Sirisena, at a Special Cabinet Meeting summoned last Friday, threatened not to summon Cabinet Meetings, if the Government was adamant about continuing with the Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to look into the Easter Sunday attacks.

As a result of this stand-off between the Executive and the Legislature, the Government cannot continue. Without Cabinet Meetings to take decisions, the country will come to a standstill.

If the Government is planning on moving such a resolution, the Joint Opposition will support it, Opposition Leader Rajapaksa said, adding that the public must be given the chance to elect a strong government.

Rajapaksa also said he was in the process of writing the same to the President and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to make necessary arrangements to dissolve Parliament and go for snap polls.

He noted that the President’s refusal to take part in Cabinet Meetings will deal a severe blow to the economy, as vital decisions regarding it cannot be either taken or approved, without the intervention of the President.

He affirmed that the only solution to the current political imbroglio was to call for a snap General Election, and allow the people to elect a stable government, to put the country back on track.

Meanwhile, MEP Leader Dinesh Gunawardena and SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris, during Media briefings held yesterday, also shared similar sentiments and called for the dissolution of Parliament.

(Source: Ceylon Today – By Shiran Ranasinghe and W.K. Prasad Manju)