COLOMBO, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's new Foreign Minister Sarath Amunugama has said the newly appointed government will abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court on the early dissolution of the parliament, local media reported Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists in capital Colombo, Amunugama said that sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had the right to seek advice of the Supreme Court over the early dissolution, but criticized him for creating political instability in the island country.
"We will wait and see. The government has no problem with this. When there is a contention between the executive and legislative, then the judiciary must give respite. This is the proper way," the minister said.
Some political parties including the United National Party led by Wickremesinghe, the main opposition Tamil National Alliance and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, filed legal challenges in the Supreme Court on Monday over President Maithripala Sirisena's early dissolution of parliament last week.
The parties have argued that Sirisena had no power to dissolve the parliament under the 19th amendment of the constitution and requested the Supreme Court to issue an order, voiding the gazette issued by the president and to suspend the upcoming parliamentary election until a verdict is announced.
The Supreme Court is expected to announce the verdict this week.
In a special gazette notification issued last Friday, Sirisena declared Jan. 5, 2019 as the date for a snap parliamentary election in order to resolve weeks of political turmoil, which erupted after Wickremesinghe was sacked from his prime ministerial post and replaced by former President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Sirisena's sudden move to dissolve parliament comes one and a half years ahead of the scheduled parliamentary polls.
