Announcement by UNP of Presidential, General and PC polls:
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Former Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian Mujibur Rahuman yesterday (10) asked whether the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government had decided to do away with Local Government (LG) polls.
The SJB Mayoral candidate for the Colombo Municipal Council at the indefinitely postponed LG polls said that the so-called UNP Management Committee Tuesday (09) evening had declared that presidential election would be held in September this year, followed by parliamentary election and Provincial Councils in January and March, 2025, respectively.
Rahuman, who first entered Parliament in 2015, as a UNP member, contested the 2020 general election on the SJB ticket. He resigned his parliamentary seat on January 21, 2023 to join the fray as the SJB’s Mayoral candidate at the LG poll in Colombo.
The UNP Management Committee consists of Assistant Leader and ex-MP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, MP Vajira Abeywardena (National List), Minister Harin Fernando (SJB), Minister Manusha Nanayakkara (SJB), ex-MP Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku, ex-MP Ravi Karunanayaka, ex-MP Ruwan Wijewardene, Lasantha Gunawardena and Shamal Senarath.
Responding to The Island queries, Rahuman pointed out that having declared presidential, parliamentary and Provincial Council polls that could cost as much as Rs 30 bn, within a space of seven months, the government couldn’t claim it lacked funds to conduct the LG poll.
The ex-Colombo District MP said that the Election Commission should take up this matter with President Wickremesinghe.
President Wickremesinghe yesterday appointed Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake as the fifth member of the EC, headed by R.M.A.L. Ratnayake.
The other members are M.A.P.C. Perera, Ameer Mohammed Faiz and Anusuya Shanmuganathan. Saman Sri Ratnayake functions as the EC Director General.
SJB spokesman Rahuman said that the incumbent government deferred the LG poll, which was to be conducted before the end of March 2023, claiming it couldn’t allocate funds due to the economic crisis. In spite of that, the Supreme Court directed that the funds allocated through the budget for the conducting of election be made available, the ex-MP said, adding that he, too, subsequently moved the Supreme Court in that regard.
Alleging that the SLPP and UNP feared to face the electorate, against the backdrop of Aragalaya, hence the decision to put off LG polls, the former lawmaker said that Gotabaya Rajapakas’s government, in Dec 2021, announced its decision to put off the LG poll to March 2023, blaming it on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rahuman said that the EC should also be concerned about the inordinate delay in holding the Provincial Council polls. Political parties seemed to have quite conveniently forgotten that all nine Provincial Councils were dissolved, with effect from Oct 08, 2019. The last PC dissolved was the Uva council.
The terms of the Northern Provincial Council came to an end on Oct 25, 2018, the Central Province on Oct 8, 2018, North Western Province on Oct 10, 2018, Sabaragamuwa on Sept 26, 2018, Eastern Province on Sept 30, 2018, North Central Province on Oct 1, 2018, Southern Province on April 10, 2019 and Western Province on April 21, 2019.
Referring to President Wickremesinghe’s repeated assurances regarding devolution of powers in terms of the 13th Amendment and the declarations made in Jaffna during his recently concluded visit, the ex-parliamentarian said that the government should explain why PC polls couldn’t be held for well over four years.
The Parliament, as the supreme institution tasked with enactment of laws and ensuring financial discipline, should be held accountable, the ex-MP said, pointing out the failure on the part of political parties to vigorously pursue the issue.
Rahuman said that those among the international community concerned over the developments here couldn’t remain silent over the postponement of the PC and LG polls. The sudden announcement on presidential, general and PC polls could be in line with the UNP strategy, the former MP said.
EC Director General Saman Sri Ratnayaka said that though they initially estimated the LG poll, if conducted in March 2023, could have cost as much as Rs 10 bn, he was now confident of spending a much lower amount. “We spent about Rs 1 bn on that poll by the time the postponement was declared,” the forthright official said, adding that the EC could have managed with Rs 6 bn. However, against the backdrop of all round tax increase effected this year, expenditure was going to be high, the official said.
In late Nov 2023, State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, addressing the media at the Presidential Media Centre, declared that Rs 10 bn had been allocated through the 2024 Budget for the EC.
