Sirisena dissolves Sri Lankan Parliament, UNP cries foul

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Parliament on Friday night after days of political unrest in the Asian island-nation according to Sri Lanka's national broadcaster.

The United National Party of Sri Lanka "vehemently rejected" the move and tweeted, "We vehemently reject the President's dissolution of Parliament. He has robbed the people of their rights and the Democracy that we have enjoyed."

They further termed the dissolution as "ïllegal" saying, "This dissolution by the President is illegal and goes against the constitution. We will be fighting this to ensure that Democracy reigns supreme in the country."

The Department of Government Printing has been brought under the President as well, according to Colombo Page, along with the country's Police Department.

Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party had earlier admitted to not having the votes to confirm Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new Prime Minister of the country in place of Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Snap elections may be held in January in Sri Lanka according to reports.

Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had on Friday stated that India hoped that democratic values and principles will be respected in the island-nation at a media briefing.