Circular on reinstating Govt. employees contesting LG polls next week: PM

• Decision was made to reinstate them outside the  local government authority they were contesting

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera   

The Cabinet Paper would be presented next week and steps  would be taken to issue the circular which would allow state employees  who are contesting the Local Government elections to report for duty  outside the local government authority they were contesting, Public  Administration Minister and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said  yesterday.     

  The Prime Minister said the decision has to be made so that  the election laws were not violated, as the Elections Commission has not  officially cancelled the election.   
He said a decision was made to reinstate them outside the  local government authority they were contesting after a discussion with  the Elections Commission. 

 
Meanwhile, responding to allegations that some state  employees who were contesting the election had not received their basic  salary as yet, State Minister Janaka Wakkumbura said heads of some  institutions had not implemented the cabinet decision properly even  though heads of all state institutions were advised to pay the basic  salary.   
“Heads of some institutions have not been able to determine  whether their employees are state employees and therefore did not pay  the basic salary,” he said.   

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, and opposition leader Sajith  Premadasa said they had received complaints that some state employees  contesting the LG polls had not received their salaries.  Opposition MPs Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Dayasiri  Jayasekara and Lakshman Kiriella said steps should be taken to reinstate  them in their original working places as some employees have practical  issues if asked to work outside their local government authority.   

They said employees at CPC and Government Printing Department would have to face issues due to this decision.   
Minister Wakkumbura said steps would be taken to resolve  such issues in consultation with the heads of those institutions.