COLOMBO, Sri Lanka

President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday dissolved the country's parliament and announced snap polls as the country plunges deeper into a constitutional crisis.

Sirisena's decision to unceremoniously oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replace him with Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former president, resulted in protests in the island nation of 21 million people.

With two people claiming to be prime ministers, Sirisena was left with no option but to dissolve the parliament and call for early elections on Jan. 5.

The next general election was due in 2020.