Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has summoned Parliament on Monday, officials said Thursday, a move which could resolve the political crisis arose after he sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and installed former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sirisena was under increasing political and diplomatic pressure to reconvene Parliament which he had suspended till November 16, apparently to allow Rajapaksa to engineer crossovers from Wickremesinghe's side. The President has agreed to call a parliamentary session on November 5, officials at Rajapaksa's office said. Prior to the crisis, Wickramasinghe's United National Party (UNP) had the backing of 106 parliamentarians while Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine had 95 seats. Rajapaksa has so far managed to rope in five lawmakers from Wickramasinghe's party to bolster his strength to 101. One UNP lawmaker has offered his support to him.