Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has prorogued the parliament for one month and fixed January 3, 2020, for the commencement of the next session, a move that will give his minority government freedom to rule without obstruction from the Opposition.
The parliament should have met on Tuesday, according to the schedule.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa issued a special gazette notification effective at midnight Monday noticing that parliament would be reconvened on January 3.
“The President is constitutionally empowered to do so,” officials said.
He is expected to make a ceremonial address at the reopening on January 3, during which he will outline his new government’s policies, they added.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s seventh President on November 18 after he defeated the ruling party candidate Sajith Premadasa by more than 13 lakh votes, marking the return of the powerful Rajapaksa dynasty known for its pro-China tilt.
His party — Sri Lanka People’s Front — lacks the working majority in the 225-member assembly and ending the session will give him freedom to rule without obstruction from the Opposition. Gotabhaya named his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new Prime Minister.
