Sri Lanka's ruling party wants Parliament dissolved

Xinhua

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Sri Lanka's ruling party on Wednesday called on to dissolve Parliament and hold fresh elections.

The United National Party (UNP) said the current Parliament does not have a mandate to continue further and so it should be dissolved soon.

UNP legislator and Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith P. Perera said that the government is continuing to remain as there are some outstanding issues to be addressed under its 100 Day Program.

However, he said that while those issues are being looked into, President Maithripala Sirisena must consider dissolving Parliament soon.

Sirisena, a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, won the January 8 presidential elections and formed a national unity government by appointing the leader of the UNP, Ranil Wickremesmighe, as the prime minister.

In the polls, Sirisena sought a 100 day mandate for the new government to make constitutional changes and offer relief to the public.

Ajith P. Perera noted that the government was given a mandate in the January 8 Presidential election, to be in power only for 100 days and not beyond that.

He also said that while the UNP is confident it can contest and win the elections alone and form a UNP government, it will still look to continue with a national government even after the next Parliament elections. Enditem