COLOMBO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Wednesday re-fixed for this Friday a petition filed by challenged Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa over an interim order which temporarily suspended him and his cabinet from functioning as a government, local media reports said.

Rajapaksa on Dec. 4 filed a petition in the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal on Dec. 3, issued an interim stay order temporarily suspending him and 49 others from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and United People's Freedom Alliance from functioning as the government.

Rajapaksa said he and his party did not agree with the interim stay order issued by the Court of Appeal and emphasized that the interpretation of the constitution, and making final determinations in that regard, were exclusively vested in the Supreme Court.

The Court of Appeal issued its order after 122 parliamentarians filed a petition challenging Rajapaksa and his government from holding office after they were defeated in two no confidence motions in Parliament.

Sri Lanka has been embroiled in a political turmoil since on Oct. 26, President Maithripala Sirisena surprisingly sacked his cabinet and then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to the post and appointed a new caretaker government.