Parliament to be dissolved tonight

By Nalaka  and Sanjeewa Dahanayaka   

The Parliament will be dissolved midnight today, according to political sources.   

Sources from the Presidential Secretariat said that the Extraordinary Gazette on that would be issued by the President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa at midnight today.   

The parliament will be dissolved after the completion of four and half years according to the powers vested with the President as per the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.   
The General Election is to be held from 52-66 days onward the day the Parliament has been dissolved. Therefore, the General Election is to be held on a day between 25 - 28 April.  It was also learnt that nominations would be accepted from 11 - 17 March.  With that, all the powers of State Ministers will be abolished and they will be vested with the Cabinet headed by the President. The parliament which came to power on 17 August 2015 completed its four and half years yesterday.    According to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the President has the power to dissolve the parliament after the completion of four and half years.