Mahinda Rajapaksa calls for snap Parliamentary elections

Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for snap Parliamentary election in the wake of his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa's presidential victory, insisting that it would improve governance to have the President and Cabinet from one party.

Addressing the media after a religious ceremony organised for his 74th birthday on Monday, the Opposition Leader in Parliament opined that it would be more effective to have a Government where the President and Cabinet were from the same party in the future, reports the Daily Financial Times.

"I think it is better if we have General Elections. Many Cabinet members have already stepped down. I think it is more effective to have a Government where the President and Cabinet are from the same party," he stated, pointing out that the public's decision at the ballot box needed to be respected.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who served as Defence Minister when Mahinda Rajapaksa was Defence Minister and saw the end of the nearly three-decade-long civil war in 2009, was elected the island nation's seventh President after winning the November 16 election.