By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
With just a few weeks to go before the presidential election, a crisis erupted in the Election Commission (EC) as a result of a power struggle between top officials, The Sunday Morning learnt.
The Sunday Morning reliably learnt that authority to take key operational decisions related to the upcoming presidential election was vested with the Commissioner General of Elections while statutory powers related to key policy decisions were vested with EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya.
Despite the important role played by the Commissioner General of Elections, the post remained vacant until last Wednesday (16), when a new Commissioner General was appointed as per the instructions of the Constitutional Council (CC).
The Council last week insisted that the presidential election could not be held without a permanent officer appointed as the Commissioner General of Elections and therefore the Council had instructed the EC to nominate a permanent officer.
Following the CC’s instructions, the name of Director General Saman Ratnayake was forwarded by the EC and approved by the CC last week.
Ratnayake’s appointment was made to the post after it had been vacant for around seven months following the retirement of M.M. Mohamed.
The EC is one of 10 independent commissions established under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 2015 with the aim of depoliticising the conduct of government affairs.
According to Article 103 of the Constitution, the EC consists of three members appointed by the President, on the CC’s recommendation, from amongst persons who have distinguished themselves in any profession or in the fields of administration or education.
One of the members so appointed shall be a retired officer of the Department of Elections who has held office as a Deputy Commissioner of Elections or above. The President shall on the recommendation of the CC, appoint one member as its Chairman.
Even though the appointment was made last week, questions were raised as to why the EC failed to fill the vacancy soon after Mohamed retired.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, a top official attached to the Commission who wished to remain anonymous stressed that ambiguity with regard to the powers vested in the posts of Commissioner General of Elections and Commissioner had resulted in the long-term delay.
In 2015, soon after the department was restructured as a commission, the commissioners had not taken steps to appoint a commissioner general as they were under the impression that if a commissioner general was appointed, the general public might perceive that post as being above that of the members of the Commission, he stressed.
While halting the appointment of the next most senior officer into the post of Commissioner General, the Commission also sought an amendment to the statutory terms of the post under the 20th Amendment through a cabinet paper.
The Sunday Morning learnt that former Director General U. Amaradasa had to retire without being able to hold the office of the Commissioner General for more than a year, despite being the most senior and suitable person to take over the role soon after the EC was established.
“What the Commission did was appoint Amaradasa as the Director General (DG) a year before he would be required to retire,” he stressed.
“Then, after his retirement, the next most senior officer, R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, was next in line for the post and was also initially appointed as the DG and then again due to the local government election in 2018, was appointed to the post of Commissioner General of Elections.
“Upon his retirement, M.A.P.C. Perera was appointed first as the DG and then as the Commissioner General – he held the post for a mere 100 days. Following Perera’s retirement, Mohamed was appointed in a similar fashion – first as the DG and then as the Commissioner General. He too held the post only for 100 days,” the senior officer explained.
Even though it seemed the norm was to appoint the most senior person as the Commissioner General, this did not seem to apply to the newly-appointed Ratnayake, as the Commission had decided to hold interviews to select a suitable person for the post, he stressed.
When the Gazette for the presidential election was issued on 18 September, the CC raised the issue of the vacant post, following which the Commission had appointed Ratnayake as Acting Commissioner General of Elections, to which the Council had objected, stating that post was not an acting post and also couldn’t be vacated.
However, when The Sunday Morning inquired about these allegations, Deshapriya said that sole authority related to the elections was vested with the Commission and the Commissioner General only had the powers vested through the Constitution to supervise election officers.
“Further, he has the powers to sign documents to prohibit some action as per the instructions given by the Commission,” he said. The Commissioner General’s post is supposed to be changed under the 20th Amendment and as we were told that 20A would come in just after 19A. We created the post of DG and had to appoint a Commissioner General when there was an election, he said.
“Soon after Mohamed left, we appointed Ratnayake as the DG. There was no immediate necessity to appoint the Commissioner General. When the issue was raised at a media conference, the CC and the commission immediately took steps to appoint him,” Deshapriya said.
“We wanted to see whether there were any other suitable officers with the relevant work experience outside the office. Even though Ratnayake was the only eligible person, the Commission wanted to hold an interview. But that doesn’t mean that Ratnayake is not qualified for the post,” he added.
“To make the appointment, the Commission takes a collective decision which is then signed by the Chairman on behalf of the Commission. If it is done through the issuance of a gazette, all three members are required to sign,” he added.
“This is the first national election to be held by the Commission after the local government polls held in 2018. The Election Department was over 60 years old, but the Commission is only four years old. This is a transition period. Some people compared this with the Indian Election Commission, but India started with a commission.
“When you look at the Police, they have a working arm and the Audit Commission also has a working arm. Therefore, people think that the Commissioner General is the head of the Election Department. But there is no such department. Only the Commission is there and the heads of the Commission are the three members,” Deshapriya explained.
The Sunday Morning reliably learnt that authority to take key operational decisions related to the upcoming presidential election was vested with the Commissioner General of Elections while statutory powers related to key policy decisions were vested with EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya.
Despite the important role played by the Commissioner General of Elections, the post remained vacant until last Wednesday (16), when a new Commissioner General was appointed as per the instructions of the Constitutional Council (CC).
The Council last week insisted that the presidential election could not be held without a permanent officer appointed as the Commissioner General of Elections and therefore the Council had instructed the EC to nominate a permanent officer.
Following the CC’s instructions, the name of Director General Saman Ratnayake was forwarded by the EC and approved by the CC last week.
Ratnayake’s appointment was made to the post after it had been vacant for around seven months following the retirement of M.M. Mohamed.
The EC is one of 10 independent commissions established under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 2015 with the aim of depoliticising the conduct of government affairs.
According to Article 103 of the Constitution, the EC consists of three members appointed by the President, on the CC’s recommendation, from amongst persons who have distinguished themselves in any profession or in the fields of administration or education.
One of the members so appointed shall be a retired officer of the Department of Elections who has held office as a Deputy Commissioner of Elections or above. The President shall on the recommendation of the CC, appoint one member as its Chairman.
Even though the appointment was made last week, questions were raised as to why the EC failed to fill the vacancy soon after Mohamed retired.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, a top official attached to the Commission who wished to remain anonymous stressed that ambiguity with regard to the powers vested in the posts of Commissioner General of Elections and Commissioner had resulted in the long-term delay.
In 2015, soon after the department was restructured as a commission, the commissioners had not taken steps to appoint a commissioner general as they were under the impression that if a commissioner general was appointed, the general public might perceive that post as being above that of the members of the Commission, he stressed.
While halting the appointment of the next most senior officer into the post of Commissioner General, the Commission also sought an amendment to the statutory terms of the post under the 20th Amendment through a cabinet paper.
The Sunday Morning learnt that former Director General U. Amaradasa had to retire without being able to hold the office of the Commissioner General for more than a year, despite being the most senior and suitable person to take over the role soon after the EC was established.
“What the Commission did was appoint Amaradasa as the Director General (DG) a year before he would be required to retire,” he stressed.
“Then, after his retirement, the next most senior officer, R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, was next in line for the post and was also initially appointed as the DG and then again due to the local government election in 2018, was appointed to the post of Commissioner General of Elections.
“Upon his retirement, M.A.P.C. Perera was appointed first as the DG and then as the Commissioner General – he held the post for a mere 100 days. Following Perera’s retirement, Mohamed was appointed in a similar fashion – first as the DG and then as the Commissioner General. He too held the post only for 100 days,” the senior officer explained.
Even though it seemed the norm was to appoint the most senior person as the Commissioner General, this did not seem to apply to the newly-appointed Ratnayake, as the Commission had decided to hold interviews to select a suitable person for the post, he stressed.
When the Gazette for the presidential election was issued on 18 September, the CC raised the issue of the vacant post, following which the Commission had appointed Ratnayake as Acting Commissioner General of Elections, to which the Council had objected, stating that post was not an acting post and also couldn’t be vacated.
However, when The Sunday Morning inquired about these allegations, Deshapriya said that sole authority related to the elections was vested with the Commission and the Commissioner General only had the powers vested through the Constitution to supervise election officers.
“Further, he has the powers to sign documents to prohibit some action as per the instructions given by the Commission,” he said. The Commissioner General’s post is supposed to be changed under the 20th Amendment and as we were told that 20A would come in just after 19A. We created the post of DG and had to appoint a Commissioner General when there was an election, he said.
“Soon after Mohamed left, we appointed Ratnayake as the DG. There was no immediate necessity to appoint the Commissioner General. When the issue was raised at a media conference, the CC and the commission immediately took steps to appoint him,” Deshapriya said.
“We wanted to see whether there were any other suitable officers with the relevant work experience outside the office. Even though Ratnayake was the only eligible person, the Commission wanted to hold an interview. But that doesn’t mean that Ratnayake is not qualified for the post,” he added.
“To make the appointment, the Commission takes a collective decision which is then signed by the Chairman on behalf of the Commission. If it is done through the issuance of a gazette, all three members are required to sign,” he added.
“This is the first national election to be held by the Commission after the local government polls held in 2018. The Election Department was over 60 years old, but the Commission is only four years old. This is a transition period. Some people compared this with the Indian Election Commission, but India started with a commission.
“When you look at the Police, they have a working arm and the Audit Commission also has a working arm. Therefore, people think that the Commissioner General is the head of the Election Department. But there is no such department. Only the Commission is there and the heads of the Commission are the three members,” Deshapriya explained.