Lanka calls parliamentary polls on April 25

Sri Lanka's new president called a snap election on April 25 after sacking the national parliament where his party led a minority government, officials said Monday. Gotabaya Rajapaksa received the power to dissolve the 225-member legislature as it completed four-and-a-half out of its five-year term on Sunday. "We have received a formal notification dissolving parliament and setting out the election calendar," an Election Commission official told AFP. He said the notice was to be published in the government Gazette later Monday. Political parties and independent groups can file nomination papers later this month and the first session of the newly elected parliament has been scheduled for May 14, the official said quoting from the presidential decree.