Sri Lankan President to reconvene parliament as international pressure builds

Colombo, Nov 1: Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena will reconvene parliament on Nov. 5, newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Thursday, as international pressure builds to resolve a political crisis.

President Sirisena replaced Wickremesinghe with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in a dramatic turn of events last Friday.

Sirisena also suspended Parliament until November 16, which experts said was meant to buy time to engineer crossovers from Wickremesinghe's side to Rajapaksa in the 225 member parliament to reach the 113 majority mark.

Sirisena and parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuria discussed the issue yesterday. Sirisena later indicated that he may call the sessions next week.