Sri Lanka's president sets April for parliamentary polls
Iran Press TV
Mon Jan 12, 2015 5:9PM
Three days into his incumbency, Sri Lanka's new president has announced fresh parliamentary elections to be held in April.
Maithripala Sirisena told a 27-member cabinet inducted on Monday that the polls will be held two years ahead of schedule after carrying out a series of reforms.
"Soon after our 100-day program, we will hold a parliamentary election and remember that this is only an interim government," he said.
The president, who also holds the defense portfolio as required by the constitution, has appointed top opposition figure, Mangala Samaraweera, as the foreign minister.
Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said the president had ordered all political appointees of his predecessor to resign immediately, while diplomats were being recalled.
Sirisena, a former health minister, garnered a 51.28-percent share of the votes in the January 8 election, ousting Mahinda Rajapaksa, who first took office in 2005 and won a re-election in 2010 thanks to major support he received for leading a fatal military offensive to defeat Tamil Tiger rebels. Sirisena was sworn in as the head of state on January 9.
Senior officials in Colombo have said the new administration has engineered enough defections from Rajapaksa's party to secure a parliamentary majority essential for radical constitutional reforms.
HN/HSN/SS
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