Colombo, November 13 (newsin.asia): Senior leaders of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by President Maithripala Sirisena, and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), led by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Tuesday quashed a widespread rumor that Rajapaksa plans to resign rather than face parliament on Wednesday after the Supreme Court stayed President Sirisena’s proclamation dissolving parliament and ordering fresh elections to be held on January 5, 2019.

Cabinet Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva said that the stay order applicable till December 7 given by the court, did not mean that the Presidential proclamation dissolving parliament had been set aside. The case is still on, and will be argued on December 5 and 6. Nobody can claim victory until the final verdict pronounced, he said.

All that the court did on Tuesday was that it gave leave to the litigants to proceed and till the case is decided, stayed the operation of the gazette notification on dissolution.

The Prime Minister and his cabinet will also remain in office, he said. Only the President can appoint the Prime Minister and not parliament or the Speaker of parliament, de Silva clarified.

The Prime Minister can be removed through a No Confidence Motion (NCM). But an NCM has to be moved in a proper way. It has to be put on the order paper and a date will  have to fixed for debate and voting.

Cabinet Minister Susil Premachandra said that if Rajapaksa loses the vote, the President need not appoint the sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister again. He can appoint any other person who in his opinion enjoys the confidence of parliament. That is his prerogative.

Alternatively, the President can dissolve parliament and order fresh elections, Premachandra added.

President Sirisena is very unlikely to appoint Wickremesinghe because he sacked him and prorogued and dissolved    parliament because he could not suffer Wickremesinghe even for an hour.”

The President could appoint some other leader from Wickremesinghe’s party the United National Party (UNP). It could be Sajith Premadasa who was Sirisena’s second choice when he was seeking a replacement for Wickremesinghe earlier on.

Both Sirisena and Premadasa share a humble background and both are leftists unlike Wickremesinghe who is right wing and elitist.

The SLFP-SLPP alliance is keen on the dissolution of parliament because it is electorally stronger that the UNP as the February 2018 local bodies elections showed. The SLPP, which  swept the elections,is now with SLFP.

In the next parliamentary elections, the SLFP and the SLPP will form an alliance, sources in the two parties said.

(The picture at the top shows President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa)