Sri Lanka's Supreme Court here Monday reserved delivering its order until Friday with regard to a case determining the date for the country's next presidential election.

Court officials said the court determination would be delivered on Friday and the Elections Commissioner was asked to wait until the judgment to proceed any further.

The JHU or the Heritage Party had asked the court to order the holding of the presidential election before the end of 2005.

Dayananda Dissanayake, elections commissioner, submitted to court last week that he would recognize President Chandrika Kumaratunga's swearing in as the country's president for her second term in December 1999 in making a decision on the date for the next election.

The JHU in its petition had held Dissanayake a respondent.

Sri Lankan political parties were involved in the argument about the date for the next presidential election for some time.

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) pressed for the election to be held by the end of this year, but President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Freedom Party argued that Kumaratunga's term would only end in 2006.

Source: Xinhua