Government refutes plans to dissolve parliament: Bandula

Colombo, May 23 (Daily Mirror)- President Ranil Wickremesinghe has no plans to amend the Constitution to extend his term of office or hold a snap general election as reported, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardana said today.

He told the weekly cabinet briefing that there has been turbulence in the share market due to statements made by various factions last week that a snap general election would be held before the presidential election.

He said the President clearly stated that the presidential election would be held this year as per the Constitution and that money has been allocated in the budget for that purpose.

When asked whether speculations that Parliament would be dissolved by June 15, he said there was no basis in the speculations and that the President did not inform the cabinet of such a matter.

“Various factions claimed that a general election will precede and these statements created a huge controversy in the country. These statements created turbulence in the share market. It is only a dream of some people. The attention was drawn to this matter in the cabinet,” he said.