No election date declared to postpone polls: President

• There has not been a quorum when the Election Commission members decided on the date
• Funds for the local polls has not been requested by the Election Commission

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

Local government election date has not been declared legally and therefore there is no question of a postponement, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated yesterday.   

An election has not been declared legally as there has not been a quorum when the Election Commission members decided on the date. “There have been only two members present when the decision had been made on the date. The two members present had decided on the date and then inquired the views of the remaining members through zoom. The quorum of the Election Commission meeting is three, legally, therefore no official declaration of the local government election date had been made legally,” the President said,  “Also the funds for the local polls has not been requested by the Election Commission. The request letter has been signed by the accounting officer at the Elections Department. The accounting officer is able to make an official request for the funds to be spent for the local polls only if it is authorized by the Elections Commission chairman. The request letter does not mention regarding the authorisation by the polls chief,” he added.  

Coming up with another argument, the President said the Elections Commission has become a caretaker Commission with the enactment of the 21st Amendment. “The Election Commission is abolished from the date the 21st amendment is enacted as per the legislation. However the members and the chairman of the Election Commission could function till new members are appointed. We only have a caretaker Elections Commission at the moment,” he said in this regard.  

“The Election Commission has sought the assistance of BASL President Saliya Peiris to represent them in courts and some ruling party members have informed me that he is politically affiliated. I say that it is not different to the Commission having obtained the services from an SJB lawyer or a JJB lawyer,” the President highlighted.  

The President then revealed that some opposition MPs have requested him to postpone the local polls. Some opposition MPs from SJB and JJB requested me to postpone the elections. They told me that they would shout a bit in the House and then sit down. “Did you not request me to postpone the polls?” he questioned the opposition members, to their angry reactions.   
“We will be left without sufficient funds to run the state if we spend money for the elections in the event the IMF delays assistance to us further,” he also highlighted. He said printing of money is impossible as per the agreements reached with the IMF.  The opposition MPs then fired questions at the President at that time. These were on various topics including appointment of a select committee to determine who is responsible for the economic crisis. MP Dayasiri Jayasekara requested that new members be appointed to the Election Commission. The opposition MPs then went into a protest shouting ‘Chandaya diyau (give us an election) they shouted. The President left the chambers before the MPs could come into the well.