Reaction as Sri Lankan top court suspends decree dissolving parliament
418 views · Published 19 November 2018 · 2:02 · Indexed 12 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(13 Nov 2018) A political research group in Sri Lanka said the Supreme Court decision to suspend the president's order to dissolve Parliament and hold new elections "a great victory for the democracy and constitutionalism." Crowds of people cheered and gathered outside the court building in Colombo on Tuesday, following the ruling that opens the way for lawmakers to vote on whether to accept his earlier ouster of the prime minister. "This is a great victory for the democracy and constitutionalism in Sri Lanka and indeed South Asia as a whole," said Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu. The ruling will see the president's order suspended until December 7, after 13 political parties and individuals filed petitions with the court calling the dissolution unconstitutional. It said it would hold hearings on the case starting December 4. Joining crowds outside the court building, activist Harshani Sandaruwani said that democracy was prevailing and "today is the day Sri Lanka law was upheld." Sri Lanka has been in a political crisis since October 26, when President Maithripala Sirisena suddenly fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/d2afc2a5150f8e68043abc4b56e6f22d
