Colombo, Apr 21 (IANS): Sri Lanka's Elections Commission has announced it would conduct the country's parliamentary polls on June 20.

The polls were initially planned to be held on April 25 but were postponed by the Elections Commission last month following the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.

The government information department said in a statement that following the decision by the Elections Commission, a special gazette notice would be issued declaring June 20 as the new date for the polls, Xinhua reported.

Chief of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya had said earlier that it was impossible to conduct an elections on the announced date of April 25 as public employees were not reporting to work and the environment was not appropriate for the polls to be held.

However, following a meeting by the members of the Elections Commission on Monday, Deshapriya told reporters that June 20 had been set as the new date for the elections.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa dissolved the Parliament on March 2.