Sri Lanka sets parliamentary election on Aug. 5

Sri Lanka’s Election Commission set Aug. 5 as the new date for parliamentary elections after postponing it twice over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commission member Ratnajeevan Hoole said the date will give the body sufficient time to prepare under health guidelines.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa dissolved Parliament in March. The first two election dates — April 25 and June 20 — had been postponed as the Election Commission sought assurances from health authorities that it is safe to hold the vote.

Sri Lanka is currently in a constitutional uncertainty because it is now past a three-month period allowed by law to operate without a sitting Parliament.

Last week the Supreme Court rejected petitions by opposition parties and civil activists seeking an annulment of Rajapaksa's order dissolving Parliament.

Rajapaksa was elected last November and used his constitutional powers to dissolve Parliament six months ahead of schedule hoping to secure for his party a majority of lawmakers. Although he is allowed to use his discretionary power to reconvene the dissolved Parliament in an emergency, he refused to do so when COVID-19 made elections uncertain.

Sri Lanka says that it has largely contained the spread of the coronavirus with 1,859 confirmed cases and 11 deaths.