Sri Lanka political crisis
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Sri Lanka's parliament speaker today defied a suspension order by the country's president and called a meeting of lawmakers next week to discuss a worsening constitutional crisis.
President Maithripala Sirisena's Party has said the 225-member assembly must remain shut until November 16 amid turmoil over his sacking of Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister.
Sirisena wants former strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse to run the government but Wickremesinghe has refused to accept his dismissal and demanded a meeting of parliament to prove he has majority backing.
