General election is the only method to establish democracy: Rajapaksa

In Sri Lanka, new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has asserted that a general election is the only method to establish democracy in the country, while party of ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe has said it is ready for elections but legitimate government should be established first.

Rajapaksa said in a special statement on Sunday that stability would have been restored if things had gone according to gazette notification issued by the President to dissolve parliament and hold elections in January.

He asserted that from the time of first Parliament, elections were called early whenever necessary to overcome situations of political turbulence.

It may be mentioned that Supreme Court has given stay order on the gazette on parliament dissolution and will adjudicate on it next week.

Rajapaksa has failed to prove his majority in parliament so far and United National Front (UNF) has demanded to reappoint ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe.

However, president has asserted several times that he will not appoint Wickremsinghe again. In an interview to a local daily, President said the proper solution to the crisis will be to go for a general election immediately.

President Maithripala Sirisena is scheduled to have another meeting with leaders of UNF this evening in a bid to resolve the ongoing crisis. UNF has maintained that an election can only take place within a democratic framework.

Rajapaksa statement gave a detailed legal explanation for holding the elections even elaborating the system and convention in other countries.

It said Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the founder of the Indian Constitution has said that the President of India can exercise his discretion when deciding whether to dissolve Parliament.

He gave examples of President V.V. Giri exercising his discretion in 1970 and President Sanjiva Reddy in 1979.

He said the UNP and its allies claim that the President cannot dissolve Parliament until the lapse of four and a half years but such restrictions are completely contrary to the Parliamentary tradition.