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Sri Lanka Parliament Speaker Decides Not to Reconvene Parliament
Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Anura Bandaranaike decided on Sunday not to reconvene parliament on Monday as requested by opposition parties after President Chandrika Kumaratunga suspended it earlier this month.
Bandaranaike, the president's brother who is from the main opposition United National Party (UNP), in a letter to opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said he was not permitted under the constitution to go against the prorogation of parliament ordered by the president last week.
The combined opposition parties which have a majority of 115 members in the 225-member parliament had requested in writing to debate on the prorogation of Parliament on July 18.
Kumaratunga suspended parliament for two months on Tuesday night in a surprise move and called for a referendum on a new constitution.
Her government lost its majority when its key ally the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress pulled out on June 20 following the dismissal of its leader Rauf Hakeem by Kumaratunga.
Two days later the UNP submitted a no-confidence motion against the government, which has plunged the war-torn country into a political turmoil.
The president's move is widely seen to forestall the adoption of the no-confidence motion in Parliament and prevent the imminent downfall of her ruling coalition.
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