19 January 2023 03:15 pm Views - 1137
Claiming that the main purpose of the Regulation of Election Expenditure Bill is not to cut down on election expenditure, but to postpone the Local Government election, Parliamentarian Prof. G.L Peiris said it was not an easy task to postpone the LG polls.
He told Parliament that the series of events that were unfolded during the past week aiming to postpone the election including the letter sent by Public Administration Ministry Secretary halting the acceptance of deposits were against Constitutional values.
He said the legislature is overpowerd by the executive today and added that Parliament is not being run by the Speaker, but by an invisible force.
He said it was not an easy task to postpone the Local Government elections as the Elections Commission has given an undertaking in the Supreme Court to continue the election process.
"If someone is trying to postpone the election, it will be a contempt of Court," he warned.
Prof. Peiris said they would do everything possible against any move to postpone the LG polls within the judiciary and international arena.
"We will bring this matter internationally and educate international community regarding this anti- democratic move," he said. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)