Key Lankan parties, EC member move Supreme Court against President Sirisena

Sri Lanka's major political parties and an election commission member on Monday dragged President Maithripala Sirisena to the Supreme Court, challenging his controversial move of dissolving Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end.

Sirisena dissolved Parliament on October 9 and announced snap polls on January 5 next year after it became evident that he did not have enough support in the House to prove the premiership of 72-year-old Mahinda Rajapaksa, whom he has appointed prime minister after abruptly sacking Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 26.

Rajapaksa needed the support of minimum 113 parliamentarians in the 225-member House to prove his majority
Rauff Hakeem, a leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, which also filed a petition, said, "Filed action in the Supreme Court today challenging the purported dissolution of parliament as untenable as per the 19th amendment of the Constitution."