COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has suspended a presidential decree dissolving Parliament and ruled that an earlier decree summoning lawmakers on Wednesday is valid.
The court decided Tuesday that the decree issued last Friday by President Maithripala Sirisena to dissolve Parliament will be suspended until Dec. 7.
On Oct. 26, Sirisena abruptly ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa. A day later he suspended Parliament, apparently to allow Rajapaksa time to gather support among lawmakers.
He later ordered Parliament to return on Wednesday, but then dissolved it last Friday and called for new elections in January.
Wickremesinghe has refused to step down.
Opposition lawmaker Ajith Perera said Parliament will meet Wednesday to prove that Wickremesinghe has the support of a majority of lawmakers.
