The famous 2015 parliamentary speech by Professor G.L. Peiris in which he says Parliament cannot be dissolved before four and a half years was quoted by counsel K. Kanag-Iswaran in the Supreme Court, a short while ago. 

The article was widely circulated on social media yesterday as the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, of which Peiris is the Chairman, strongly defended President Maithripala Sirisena's move to dissolve Parliament prematurely. 

In his Parliamentary speech, Peiris argued that the 19th Amendment to the constitution had curtailed the powers of the President and the latter was not in a position to dissolve Parliament before four and a half years unless requested explicitly by a two-thirds majority. 

Despite having made these remarks in Parliament, Peiris today filed an intervening petition in the Supreme Court, supporting President Sirisena's move to prematurely dissolve Parliament. 

Kanag-Iswaran said the argument that Article 33 is a stand-alone argument is merely an "argument of convenience" and should not be permitted in courts.