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Relief is for relief, not elections: Udaya Gammanpila

04 Jan 2022

  • Gammanpila says relief package misinterpreted
BY Pamodi Waravita Cabinet Co-Spokesman Udaya Gammanpila said yesterday (4) that despite speculations by various parties that the provision of an economic relief package on Monday (3) is a sign that the Provincial Councils (PCs) Elections will be held soon, there have been no such discussions within the Government. “People have misinterpreted the relief packages that were announced by the Government as being that the Government is hoping to hold the Provincial Councils Elections soon and hence the relief packages. There is no discussion about that at all within the Government. The only goal of the relief packages is to give relief to the public,” said Gammanpila at the cabinet decisions press briefing held yesterday. He added that there is “no pressure” from any foreign government to hold the Provincial Councils Elections, and said that the Government does not have a “culture” of bending down to such pressure, if there was such. Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, on Monday, announced a Rs. 229 billion ($ 1.1 billion) relief package, and that all essential food items and medicines will be exempted from taxes from January 2022 onwards. Following this announcement, there was speculation on whether an election will be held soon. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1987 and supported by the Government of India, created the Provincial Councils Elections system which led to the establishment of Provincial Councils in an attempt at the devolution of power. However, the Provincial Councils have since garnered many criticisms, with some members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) recently calling for its repeal. Since 2017, the Provincial Councils Elections have not been held as the then Government attempted to introduce legislative changes to the Provincial Councils Act in order to reform the process. The new system envisioned a hybrid style system of both the first-past-the-post and proportional representation as opposed to the current system of proportional representation. Last month, the main minority parties representing the Tamil-speaking people said that they have reached an agreement on a common set of proposals about the devolution of power which will be presented to the Government of Sri Lanka and to the international community, especially India, in the near future.

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