Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena lifts suspension of Parliament

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has lifted the suspension of parliament and convened a meeting of the legislature on Monday to end the current political stalemate in the country over the sudden sacking of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, officials said Thursday.

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.