• Under the provisions of Article 70 (A) of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the President is empowered to dissolve Parliament only after the expiry of two and half years from the first sitting of Parliament following the general election
• The SLFP had already started the party’s reorganization campaign round the country targeting the forthcoming local government, Provincial Councils and the general election

By Sandun A Jayasekera

General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), former Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara yesterday admitted that it was very likely that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be forced to call a snap general election after February 2023 if the current regime did not collapse before that.   

Commenting on media reports that the Aragalists, the combined opposition, the trade unions representing the entire public and private sector, the estate sector and Universities were awaiting to launch an indefinite and massive trade union action and protest campaign in early 2023, bringing the entire country to a grinding halt until President Rajapaksa dissolves Parliament and calls a Parliamentary election,  Jayasekara said it was quite a possibility.   “Under the provisions of Article 70 (A) of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, President Rajapaksa is empowered to dissolve Parliament only after the expiry of two and half years from the first sitting of Parliament following the general election. This means, he can call a Parliamentary poll any time after February 20th of 2023 as this Parliament (9th) met for the first time after the polls on August 20th of 2020,” Jayasekara stressed.  
Otherwise, the President is also empowered to dissolve Parliament with a resolution passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament requesting the same, but that is extremely unlikely, he added.   

• President Rajapaksa is empowered to dissolve Parliament only after the expiry of two and half years from the first sitting of Parliament following the general election