The Election Commission (EC) will meet on Wednesday (15) to discuss the letter sent by President’s Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera regarding the parliamentary election in order to formulate an appropriate reply. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said the Commission was originally scheduled to meet on 20 April. However, soon after the letter was received last week, the Commission decided to meet on 15 April to discuss the concerns raised in the letter and send a reply to the President. “I can’t give my opinion on the concerns as we as a Commission discussed the matter and wrote to the President. Therefore, before the next sitting of the Commission, we might send an acknowledgement, but a proper reply would be sent after discussing the matter at the Commission,” Deshapriya explained. Dr. Jayasundera sent the aforesaid letter on 6 April 2020 to Deshapriya in response to the letters sent by the EC Chairman, under the title “Parliamentary Election 2020 and Date of Summoning of the New Parliament”, dated 31 March 2020 and 1 April 2020. In the letter written to Dr. Jayasundera, EC Chairman Deshapriya said that in keeping with the provisions of the Constitution, the new Parliament will have to meet latest by 2 June, which means the election would have to be held by at least 27 or 28 May, and preparation for the poll will have to commence by 20 April at least. Given the present situation with the spread of Covid-19, the EC said it is difficult to expect that there would be a conducive environment for the holding of elections even by end-May. The President dissolved Parliament on 2 March and fixed 25 April as the date of the election, but the EC decided to postpone the poll in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus. In his proclamation dissolving Parliament, the President fixed 14 May for the meeting of the new Parliament. In responding to the EC’s letter, Dr. Jayasundera as per the instructions given by the President, pointed out that the latter has failed to act according to the full provisions of Section 24 of the Parliamentary Elections Act and should have published another date for the general election as per Section 24 (3) of the Act. Under the circumstances, Dr. Jayasundera has informed Deshapriya that there is no need for the matter to be referred to the Supreme Court. However, when The Sunday Morning contacted Director General of Elections Saman Rathnayake to see how long it would take to hold the election after the curfew was lifted, he explained that the Secretariat would need at least five weeks to prepare for elections, as at the time it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, only the nomination process had been completed. “The Elections Secretariat had not even completed the documentation necessary to hold the postal voting and most importantly, it should give time for political parties to communicate their policies to the public, which is an essential part of democracy,” he added. – Maheesha Mudugamuwa