President’s speech on LG elections 85% false – Polls monitors

By Rathindra Kuruwita

At least 85 percent of the speech President Ranil Wickremesinghe made in Parliament on the local council elections, on Thursday, was misleading and it was an attempt to influence the courts, Sri Lankan election monitors said yesterday.

D. M. Dissanayake, Head of Operation at the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said the Elections Commission had taken steps to hold elections on 09 March, as per the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance (Chapter 262). By stating that the Commission had not acted properly, the President had shown his ignorance, Dissanayake added.

On Thursday, addressing the Parliament, President Wickremesinghe said the Election Commission had not taken an official decision on a date to hold the local council polls.

“According to the provisions of the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, it is the returning officers, of each district, that announce the election. They do so after accepting nominations. This time as well, the returning officers announced that the elections will be held on 09 March by issuing gazettes. It is obvious that the President has gone before Parliament and made a lot of false statements. This is a serious matter,” he said.

Dissanayake said that while the President had sought to mislead the people and there was nothing anyone can do because he had legal immunity. “He made this speech in parliament. So, automatically, he is protected by parliamentary privileges. Moreover, after the 19th Amendment, we can only file fundamental rights cases against the President. He is shielded despite the serious nature of his speech,” he said.

The President mentioned that on 14 December, 2022, he had summoned the Election Commission and informed them that this election can’t be held due to the economic situation of the country. Wickremesinghe added that he had met the EC again with the Attorney General on 05 January, 2023.

Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES), Manjula Gajanayake, said that both these meetings had been called by the President to intimidate the members of the Elections Commission.

“The President also brings in the AG for one of these meetings and he really tried to see whether the commissioners were divided. They were not friendly chitchats. The responsibility of the Elections Commission is to hold elections and it is also the responsibility of the President to do, according to our Constitution,” he said.

The President also mentioned that the Elections Commission should have asked Parliament for money to hold elections as finances is the responsibility of the Parliament. However, there is no mechanism or precedence for the Commission to approach Parliament, Gajanayake said.

“The Constitution says the President must facilitate elections, but during the past few months, Wickremesinghe had done everything in his power to obstruct elections,” he said.

from The Island https://ift.tt/GmlZCe2