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PC polls: Don’t drag your feet, Opposition tells Government

16 Apr 2022

  • Hold PC elections at the earliest: TNA
  • Ready for polls but provide relief to public first: SJB
  • Changes to legislation can be done quickly with consensus
By Skandha Gunasekara The Opposition has asserted that Provincial Council (PC) Elections must be held as soon as possible once the Government has ensured that the people’s woes have been resolved, in addition to addressing any legal obstacles. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) states that an amendment must be brought in to make the legislative changes needed to hold the PC Elections. “A bill to amend the current act must be brought. This whole process will take around two months. We have been saying this from the get go. If the Government shows interest it can be done, but the Government is dragging its feet rectifying this and delaying elections,” TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran told The Sunday Morning. He charged that the Government had been intentionally delaying the process. “The legal issue has not been resolved and that is up to the Government to do. As to how it should be resolved, we have discussed it at length. I made my own proposals and the Attorney General has concurred with them, but the Government is dragging its feet.” He added that it would be better to hold elections sooner rather than later, taking into consideration the trajectory of the economy. “Economically it’s better to have it earlier than later. You can’t not have elections. The best time to have an election is at the earliest possible moment, not later.” The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) also said that it was ready to face elections, but the problems faced by the people should be attended to first. “The Government must know what to do — whether there is enough funding, whether officials are ready to have elections, these are things the Government must determine. We as a party are always ready to face any election. Before holding an election, the Government must ensure that the people’s needs are met, such as electricity, gas, medicines, food, and other essential items,” said SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara. He added that the legal provisions must also be ironed out first: “The Provincial Council Elections Act must be amended to enable the elections to be held. We have clearly said that our party is prepared to extend its support to have elections under the preferential voting system.” Provincial Council Elections have been delayed for several years, despite calls from the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) to hold polls. Meanwhile, the Elections Commission has pointed out that costs for holding an election would run into billions, scarce resources would need to be imported, and it would take around four months to organise and execute. “At least three-and-a-half to four months will be needed to arrange an election. Around Rs. 10 billion will be required to hold a General Election. It will be a similar cost for Provincial Council Elections as well as the basic costs are more or the same. If the Government decides to go for an election, then it must find solutions to issues such as paper and fuel shortage as both will be needed in large supply to conduct an election,” Elections Commission Chairman Nimal Punchihewa told The Sunday Morning on an earlier occasion.   


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