President Mahinda Rajapaksa dissolved parliament Feb. 9 to make way for spring elections a day after authorities arrested a key opposition leader, crippling the only serious threat to the ruling party's grip on power and pushing the island nation into political turmoil.

Rajapaksa's decision follows his sweeping victory at the polls last month over his former army chief Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who had defected to the opposition after helping to end the country's quarter-century civil war. Fonseka was arrested by the military Feb. 8 on sedition charges.

Fonseka's arrest will likely serve as a warning to others who might seek to challenge the ruling party's effort to cement its grip on power in the parliamentary poll.