Sri Lanka Will Hold Parliamentary Elections in April

The 225-member assembly was dissolved at midnight and the elections are “expected to be held in April,” the government said in a statement. The ballot will probably take place on April 8 with the new parliament meeting April 22, the Daily News newspaper reported on its Web site, without saying where it obtained the information.

Fonseka’s detention “could have a serious impact on the election,” Rohan Edrisinha, director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, an advocacy and research group, said by phone from Colombo today. “The opposition was divided at the time of his arrest as how to contest the election.” Rallying behind a single figure was “much easier” for presidential elections.

Rajapaksa called the general election after winning 58 percent of the votes compared with 40 percent for former army chief Fonseka in the Jan. 26 presidential ballot, the first national vote since the defeat of Tamil Tiger separatists ended a 26-year conflict in May. The president is trying to capitalize on an economy boosted by tourism and agriculture industries rebuilt since the war’s end.

The central bank forecasts the economy will grow as much as 6 percent this year, after expanding about 3.5 percent in 2009.