Following the election of Anura Kumara Dissanayake as Sri Lanka’s new President, the country could soon see a Parliamentary election, possibly as early as the end of November 2024.
President-elect Dissanayake hinted at this during his victory speech after the final count of preferential votes in the recent Presidential Election, though he stopped short of confirming an exact timeline.
Bimal Ratnayake, a key figure in Dissanayake’s party, the NPP, told NewsWire that a dissolution of Parliament is expected shortly. According to election monitors, if the President follows through on his previous statements and dissolves Parliament this week, the timeline for the election points to a late November poll.
According to former election monitor RajithnKeerthi Tennakoon, the expected timeline under the legal framework suggests the following:
– Parliament dissolution / Election notification: Anticipated around :September 25, 2024
– Nomination deadline: Likely by October 4, 2024, within ten days of the notification, with a seven-day window for nominations.
– Official announcement of election date: Expected by October 7, 2024
– Election day: Could fall between November 22 and November 30, 2024, as per the statutory requirement of holding elections between 52 to 66 days after dissolution
