By Sandun A Jayasekera

While stressing that the universal suffrage is a part of the sovereignty of the people guaranteed under basic law, former Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Faizer Musthapha PC, said the Election Commission (EC) is mandated to hold Local Government polls and constitute all 340 local government bodies on or before March 20th of 2023. 

The Supreme Court in a judgement delivered in 2016 has ruled that delaying in conducting LG polls was a violation of the Fundamental Rights of the people, he added.
Granting relief to 18 petitioners of whom were chairmen or deputy chairmen of local government authorities in Galle and Matara Districts in the FR case no. 35/2016, filed against the EC, three other members, the Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils among 31 other respondents, a three judge bench chaired by Chief Justice Priyasath Dep agreeing with two other judges, Justice Anil Gunaratne PC and Justice Nalin Perera PC, has ordered the EC to hold LG polls without further delay.        

“This court is of the view that the state should take steps to hold elections. We direct Respondents to take necessary steps to ensure that the elections are held without further delay,” the Supreme Court has ruled in that FR case. 

“I am confident that the EC as an independent statutory body will hold LG polls on time and take steps to safeguard the free franchise of the people,” Musthapha said. 

If the government has a genuine desire to introduce electoral reforms to LG polls, it can be done in a couple of months’ time with the consent of all political parties in Parliament paving the way for the EC to hold LG polls in early 2023. 

But the best thing to do is to hold LG polls first and enact electoral reforms after the establishment of new LG bodies, he noted.  

Commenting on the continuous failure of the government to hold Provincial Councils election, which was postponed while he was the Minister in Charge, Musthapha said all the political parties represented in Parliament during the Yahapalana regime voted unanimously against the delimitation committee report presented to Parliament in August 2018 making it impossible to conduct PC polls.