Soldiers patrol along a road near the Supreme Court in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Dec. 13, 2018. Sri Lankan Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against President Maithripala Sirisena's decision to dissolve the parliament and conduct a snap parliamentary election in early January. (Xinhua/A. Hapuarachchi)

Sri Lankan Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against President Maithripala Sirisena's decision to dissolve the parliament and conduct a snap parliamentary election in early January.

A seven-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Nalin Perera, delivered the verdict saying the president's decision was unconstitutional with Chief Justice Perera further explaining that if Sirisena wants to dissolve the parliament, there must be a resolution with a two thirds majority at the parliamant.

According to local media, the Supreme Court verdict means that the president, without a two thirds majority, cannot dissolve the parliament and the parliamentary elections will be held as scheduled after February 2020, after its four and a half years of term.

Following the ruling, ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a statement on his Twitter account called on Sirisena to respect the judgement while his party, the United National Party (UNP) said they hope to meet the president later on Thursday to discuss the court's ruling.

Namal Rajapaksa, a lawmaker from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, a party loyal to challenged Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said his party respected the court's decision but they would continue their call for a parliamentary election in order to end the ongoing political struggle.

There was no immediate comment from President Sirisena.

Sri Lanka has been facing a severe political turmoil when on Oct. 26, Sirisena sacked his cabinet and then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the post.

Sirisena later appointed a new caretaker government, with following increasing protests from Wickremesinghe and his UNP, who called their sudden dismissal from cabinet unconstitutional.

Sirisena, on Nov. 10 dissolved the parliament calling for a snap parliamentary election in January.

The election, which was announced one and a half years ahead of schedule, was challenged in the Supreme Court by opposition lawmakers who said the president did not have powers to call for an early poll.