COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Sri Lanka’s president dissolved the parliament today, setting the stage for new elections a day after authorities arrested the leader of the opposition — a move analysts said was meant to prevent him from contesting the vote.

President Mahinda 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.

Fonseka, who last year led government troops in their crushing defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels, was dragged out of his office Monday by military police and arrested on charges he plotted to overthrow the government while running the army. He has repeatedly denied similar accusations lobbed at him since the election.