Colombo: Sri Lanka's outgoing Parliament has
extended the state of emergency until after the April 8
general elections, giving sweeping powers to law enforcement
agencies.
In a special session of Parliament convened just for a
day, lawmakers yesterday voted 93-24 to approve the extension
of the emergency law.
The opposition JVP, UNP and TNA voted against the
extension of emergency.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who won a second term in the
office in the January 26 Presidential polls, had dissolved
Parliament on February nine for the general elections next
month.
The April 8 elections are set to witness a three-cornered
contest involving the ruling UPFA, former premier Ranil
Wickremesinghe's opposition UNF and detained ex-army chief
Sarath Fonseka-headed DNA.
Sri Lanka first imposed the emergency law -- which allows
arrest and detention of suspects for long periods without
trial and empowers police to carry out search operations
without a warrant, in 1983 to combat the LTTE which was
finally defeated in May last year.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 09:20