Do not conduct polls amid COVID-19 pandemic - TPA urges EC

• The Independent EC to be mindful of the stand of the recognised political and civil society

By Yohan Perera   

The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) in a letter addressed to the Elections Commission not to support the idea of holding elections amidst threats posted by COVID-19 pandemic.    

“We request the Independent Election Commission to be mindful of the stand of the recognised political and civil society, including our party, demanding you not to extend support to the alleged attempts of the present caretaker government to conduct elections amidst the threats posed by the coronavirus pandemic,” TPA leader Mano Ganesan said in a letter.   

“We believe that any constitutional crisis on the subjects of reconvening the dissolved the eighth parliament and convening the new ninth shall be addressed by the constitution of Sri Lanka, as interpreted by the Supreme Court” he said in the letter.   

The World Health Organisation (WHO) characterized Covid-19 as ‘Pandemic’ on March 11. Leader of the Opposition, speaking in the Parliament on-behalf of the majority of the Sri Lankan Parliamentarians, cautioned the government on Covid-19 twice - first on Jan 27 and later on Feb 5. Hence, the civil and political society requested the present government to take appropriate action to control the virus spread.

Despite all of the above, the present caretaker government prematurely dissolved the parliament on March 2 and declared the dates for the nominations and elections. This prompted hundreds of people to assemble at political party offices around the country to prepare for the nominations. We thank the timely intervention of the Independent Election Commission for declaring its inability to conduct free and fair elections on the stipulated date due to the prevailing conditions in the country.   Under these circumstances, we came to know that the present caretaker government is considering holding elections, before the end of May 2020, despite the questions regarding the purported constitutional authority held by the President in this issue.  Therefore, we consider this as the second incorrect attempt by the present caretaker government after the March 2 notification.  
We, as a recognised and active political party, endorse the contents of the joint statement issued by election monitoring organisations with regards to the dangers in conducting the general elections prematurely,” he said further in his letter.