President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday night dissolved Eighth Parliament paving the way for a snap general election under the powers vested in him by the Constitution.The relevant Extraordinary Gazzette notification signed by the President was released by the Government Press.

According to the Gazzette Notification, the election to elect members to the ninth parliament will be held on January 5, 2019 and the new parliament is scheduled to meet on January 17, 2019.The nomination period beginning from November 19, 2018 will end at 12 noon of November 26, 2018 as per the Gazzette.

The General Election to elect members to the Eighth parliament was held on August 17, 2015 and the first session of the parliament was inaugurated September 1 of the same year