• US pushes China over SL debt restructuring issue at G20 meet
• Govt. seeks clarity on China Exim Bank’s ‘so-called’ programme
• Govt. completed 15 points given by IMF, met delayed Feb. deadline
• EC writes to Speaker, seeks intervention to secure funds for polls
• New members likely to be appointed to the EC in coming weeks
• Opposition and poll monitors threaten to seek intl. intervention
• Mayantha’s appointment as COPF Chairman causes rift within SJB
• SLPP split on the issue of LG Polls, Basil loses cool with organisers
• ‘Helicopter’ alliance slams Maithri, says he is no longer in alliance

The postponement of Local Government (LG) Elections and the speech made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament last week managed to push all the key topics of discussion to the political backburner.

While it was evident that the Local Government Elections would not be held on the date set out by the Election Commission on 9 March, it was finally confirmed last week after the Election Commission, following weeks of deliberations, said that polls could not be held on the scheduled date. However, it was not immediately clear how the commission would gazette a fresh date for the polls on 3 March given that the Government has given clear indications of funding constraints and the pending case before the Supreme Court.

Opposition parties have planned a series of protests against the ‘undemocratic’ moves of the Government that have pushed for the postponement of an election. Local election monitors have also vowed to take the case before the international community for intervention in forcing the Government to hold Local Government Elections.

It is evident that the Opposition parties and civil society are pushing for the holding of Local Government Elections as a decisive poll for the country for one key reason. Apart from serving as a referendum on the incumbent Government, the anticipated outcome of the poll where the governing party would not be able to secure a majority could be used to campaign for a General Election on the basis that the Wickremesinghe Government did not enjoy the confidence of the people.

Nevertheless, Wickremesinghe, who has mastered the art of ‘whistling past the graveyard,’ has turned a blind eye to the criticism levelled against him and the Government by the Opposition and certain sections of civil society by continuing to hold focus on Sri Lanka’s proposed assistance package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by finalising the debt restructuring programme with the key bilateral creditors.

Wickremesinghe claimed that with the recovery of the economy next year, the necessary background would be prepared for the people to use their votes and create the changes that needed to be made in the country and the future they wanted.

“They [IMF] assigned us 15 tasks to complete. The IMF gave us till 31 December to implement it, but we couldn’t do it on that particular day. Then we made plans to get time until 31 January. Even at that time, we were unable to complete those 15 points. Finally, the deadline was pushed back to 15 February. By 6 p.m. on 15 February, we completed all that was expected of us and sent them to Washington,” Wickremesinghe told the business community, adding that only one of these 15 issues was being delayed. It is related to the increase in electricity tariffs.

Sri Lanka is awaiting final confirmation from the IMF of the $ 2.9 billion bailout package and is hopeful that it will be approved at next month’s board meeting. 

The President has indicated on several occasions that the Government is confident the bailout will be approved. However, Opposition members have questioned the Government on the veracity of those comments.

The biggest stumbling block for the bailout appears to be the lack of sufficient approval from China for debt restructuring. The Chinese Exim Bank has provided a moratorium of two years for Sri Lanka. However, this moratorium appears to fall short of the requirements of the IMF. Despite further attempts of the Government to secure further clarification from the Chinese regarding the debt restructuring assurances, Chinese authorities have chosen to remain silent.

Interestingly, a news report in an English daily yesterday (25) noted that China’s Exim Bank had offered short-, mid-, and long-term measures for debt treatment. However, highly-placed Government sources said that they were unclear on the statement made by ‘unnamed sources’ on the offer made by China’s Exim Bank.

It is in this backdrop that the Government appears to be pursuing an alternative plan in the form of the addition of the ‘Most Favoured Creditor’. This will ensure that if the restructuring process commences without the full cooperation of China, the East Asian giant will not be able to leverage more favourable conditions in their restructuring further down the line. 

The Government has also taken steps to reclassify Chinese debt as bilateral and commercial debt, which will reduce Chinese holding of Sri Lanka’s bilateral debt to less than 50%. On the back of this, the Government will inform the IMF that the majority of holders of Sri Lanka’s debt are in favour of pursuing the programme.

However, this path of action will certainly leave China isolated among other creditor nations and will not present the country in a positive light amongst Sri Lankans. At the time of print, the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi had concluded its two-day meeting. However, the final statement from the summit was pending. With restructuring of debt in economic crisis-ridden nations being a key focus point of the meeting, this statement will certainly present a clearer view on China’s stance in this regard.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at the G20 meeting in Bengaluru that the US would continue to push for all bilateral official creditors, including China, to participate in meaningful debt treatments for developing countries and emerging markets in distress and that financing assurances for Sri Lanka were “most urgent”.

At the G20 Finance Ministers’ Conference, the IMF held a meeting with the World Bank, China, India, Saudi Arabia, and the G7 on restructuring debt. However, no agreement was reached, with China calling on the IMF and the World Bank and other multilateral lenders to agree to haircuts in their debt as well. 

As per the main session, it appears likely that India, as the host, may issue only a summarising statement. Russia and China opposed the US and its allies within the G7 (who are also part of the G20) using a statement to condemn Russia for the war in Ukraine. Russia has been demanding that the invasion be referred to as a special military operation. India had been adamant that the war in Ukraine will not be mentioned at all in the statement. 

Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe is to discuss the debt restructuring method of Sri Lanka with the Chinese Finance Minister at the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting in Bangalore, India.

Local Government Polls

 The last week saw Parliament focused on the upcoming Local Government Elections. The Opposition staged a protest in the Chamber on Tuesday (21), resulting in the session for the day being halted.

The proceedings of Parliament were adjourned until 9 a.m. on Wednesday (22) by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena due to the protest on Tuesday by legislators representing the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and other Opposition political parties, demanding that the Government led by President Wickremesinghe hold the Local Government Elections as planned.

Parliamentary proceedings commenced at 9.30 a.m. that day and Chief Opposition Whip and SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella made a statement about the Government’s efforts to postpone the Local Government Elections.

MPs, including Nalin Bandara Jayamaha, Dr. Kavinda Jayawardana, and Thushara Indunil, went to the front of the Speaker’s seat and started chanting slogans.

However, the President addressed the House on Thursday (23). In his address the President stated that the Local Government Elections had not been legally called for as the Election Commission had failed to gather the necessary quorum for the meeting when deciding on the date of the election.

According to Wickremesinghe, Election Commission Chairman Nimal Punchihewa and commission member M.M. Mohamed had been the only members present on the day. After the two members had made the decision on the date of the election, the remaining three members had been connected via Zoom and their consent obtained. However, the President further added that the other three members were not of the same opinion as the Chairman regarding the election and he had proof to back up this claim.

The Election Commission has however maintained that the decision on holding the Local Government Elections and announcement of the date were done legally. 

Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe had also informed the governing parliamentary group meeting last week that the Government had not made any decision not to hold elections as it was the duty of the Election Commission. The President had explained that there were challenges in sourcing the required funds for polls, but that the decision was up to the commission.

Postponing polls

 Also, on Thursday (23) the Supreme Court had heard the petition filed challenging the holding of the Local Government Elections by retired Army Colonel W.M.R. Wijesundera. Having heard both arguments, the lawyers challenging the petitioner had requested further time to study the affidavit provided by the Treasury Secretary regarding funding for the election. The Supreme Court decided that the case would once again be taken up for hearing on 11 May.

With the Local Government Elections now being postponed, Opposition groups have argued that the people’s franchise is being eroded. However, in Sri Lanka’s history this is not the first time an election has been postponed. 

In 1975 the Government of Sirima Bandaranaike postponed the scheduled General Elections by two years. The rationale for the postponement was that a new Constitution had been enacted in 1972 and so the life of the current Parliament was reset from that date.

In 2016, the Local Government Elections were postponed by a period of two years citing the reforms being enacted by Parliament to the Local Government Act. 

In 2020, after nominations were filed for the General Election and Parliament stood dissolved, the election was postponed by several months due to the Covid-19 outbreak. 

On this occasion, the Government has claimed that financial constraints have made it difficult to hold the Local Government Elections at this current point in time.

According to President Wickremesinghe, it was himself, the Prime Minister, and the Attorney General who had first met with the Election Commission members in December 2022 and informed them of the financial constraints. At that time a proposal had been put forth that the election be delayed until the new reforms, which would see the number of elected Local Government members reduced from over 8,000 to 5,000, were enacted. 

In this regard, it is expected that former Chairman of the Election Commission Mahinda Deshapriya will present a draft of his Delimitation Commission report this week. This is expected to see a reduction in the number of Local Government members elected, resulting in a reduction in public expenditure.

However, with the elections now being delayed, many candidates have raised concerns over the withholding of their deposits. The Election Commission had stated this past week that it was unable to return these deposits unless the election was cancelled.

Furthermore, questions have been raised over the public expenditure that has already been incurred by the Election Commission. One of the key questions being asked by many candidates is who will be held responsible for the wastage of public funds.

Early steps

 Following the decision to postpone the casting of postal voting indefinitely, the Commissioner General of Elections has sent a letter to all district returning officers and assistant returning officers with a list of instructions about the steps being taken in connection with the Local Government Elections.

Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake has informed them to function during normal office hours from Monday (20) and to temporarily suspend the overtime duties for election duties.

All District Election Offices including the Head Office should be closed during weekends and public holidays and the Election Commissioner General’s prior approval must be obtained if it is necessary to open the office on weekends or holidays for any special duty.

The SJB meanwhile filed a Fundamental Rights petition at the Supreme Court last week against the Finance Ministry Secretary and other officials over the Local Government Elections.

The petition was filed by SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara and the SJB has requested the court to issue an order to the Finance Secretary and other officials to not violate the people’s fundamental rights by not allocating funds for the Local Government Polls. 

“The country’s economic problem is not something that can be resolved through legal action, even if all judges, including the Chief Justice, are involved. The Parliament is responsible for addressing and improving the state of the economy. Therefore, it is essential for all 225 Members of Parliament to come together and work towards a resolution that will help to recover the economy,” the President also stated last week.

However, Ratnayake has told the media that the Election Commission will write to the Speaker of Parliament seeking his intervention in securing the funds required for the elections.

Changing commission

 Be that as it may, it is learnt that the new members to the Election Commission will also be appointed in the coming weeks, resulting in a further delay in the holding of Local Government Elections.

Political sources pointed out that the call for applications from persons interested in being appointed to the independent commissions had come to an end and that it was only a matter of time before new members were appointed to the commission.

In the event new members are appointed to the commission in the coming week, the holding of LG Elections as well as the actions of the outgoing commission will be subjected to a fresh review.

Red light

 The move to postpone the Local Government Elections has also resulted in Sri Lanka once again falling under the spotlight of the international community. This time around it is over the increasing focus on Sri Lanka’s democratic practices, especially in the area of holding polls.

SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne last week pointed out that the postponement of Local Government Elections could result in the international community thinking twice about supporting Sri Lanka at a crucial juncture due to issues over democratic practices.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Spokesman and MP M.A. Sumanthiran also expressed his views on the matter. He said in order to rebuild the economy, first and foremost the country’s democracy must be protected.

“This is a juncture where the country is expecting the support of the IMF. Other countries have also stressed the importance of political stability if they are to aid us. The protection of democracy is vital to ensuring political stability. That is why we have opposed his opinion on the holding of elections,” he said.

It is in such a backdrop that the Germans have expressed the need for Sri Lanka to address certain economic issues as well as those related to strengthening democracy.

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Committee that consists of 18 independent experts is to review six countries including Sri Lanka. The review is to be carried out in line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Also, a German MP who visited Sri Lanka recently had said that Germany had sought Sri Lanka’s support for a resolution at the United Nations against Russia. German MP Dr. Peter Ramsauer has reportedly told a group of journalists at the conclusion of his visit that he had raised the issue with President Wickremesinghe as well.

The European Union has circulated the resolution to be voted on by the UN General Assembly on the eve of next week’s first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka once again abstained from voting on a resolution on Russia at the UN General Assembly last Thursday (23). The resolution called for the cessation of hostilities against Ukraine and for Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine. The resolution was passed with 141 votes for and seven votes (Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, and Syria) against. There were 32 abstentions. 

Govt.’s move

 However, realising the possible concerns raised by the international community over the postponement of Local Government Elections, the Wickremesinghe Government decided to focus on several areas that had been continuously highlighted by it – the repealing of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) through the introduction of new counter-terrorism laws, moving of legislation on anti-corruption, and probing economic crimes committed in the country, as well as ensuring accountability.

While hinting at the postponement of Local Government Elections, President Wickremesinghe while addressing Parliament last week stated that action would be taken on these areas without delay.

He also put the matter of probing economic crimes and accountability to the court of the Opposition by asking them to move the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee for the purpose.

Parliament drama

 However, apart from the focus on Local Government Elections, one of the key issues that were witnessed during last week’s parliamentary proceedings is the clash within the main Opposition SJB over the appointment of the new chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on Public Finance (COPF).

Dr. Harsha de Silva’s Twitter account was in the news again last week when he launched a scathing attack on the Government and a member of his own party, Mayantha Dissanayake.

De Silva’s anger has resulted from the apparent failure to reappoint him as chairperson of the COPF. It is well known that last year de Silva had canvassed strongly with the then Prime Minister Wickremesinghe for the post of chairman of COPF. According to the Standing Orders in Parliament, the chairperson of COPF should be a member of the Opposition. Late last year de Silva was appointed as chairman of the committee. However, following the proroguing of Parliament in February the committees had to be reappointed. 

On this occasion de Silva, while being appointed to the committee, missed out on the chairperson’s position in lieu of SJB MP Dissanayake. It does warrant mention that from among the current Opposition MPs in the COPF, M.A. Sumanthiran, who served as Chairman back in 2015, and Dissanayake, who deputised on numerous occasions since 2015, are the two most experienced MPs with regard to COPF amongst the current committee. 

Sources within Parliament indicated that despite de Silva being nominated for the COPF chairperson’s post, MPs from both the Government and Opposition opposed his name. Finally an agreement had been reached that saw Dissanayake being nominated instead based on his prior experience.

This decision resulted in de Silva launching an attack on a member of his own party (Dissanayake), accusing him of doing a deal with the Government. SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, who was absent from Parliament, had subsequently spoken to Dissanayake, instructing him to resign.

However, Dissanayake had reportedly refused, stating that as a member of the Opposition it was within his rights to accept the position. It is reliably learnt that Premadasa had then been given the option of moving a motion within the SJB parliamentary group stating that only de Silva could accept the post of COPF chairperson. This was quickly overruled by several SJB seniors, who informed the Leader that if such a move was made it would damage the confidence of the other MPs who would believe that de Silva was preferred over all other SJB MPs.

With a rift growing within the SJB over this appointment, Premadasa has apparently been approached by several members requesting that he intervene and reprimand de Silva for his public attack on a fellow party member.

However, unconfirmed reports stated yesterday that Dissanayake had given into the pressure of several party seniors and had agreed to step down from the post of COPF chairperson.

SLPP split

 Meanwhile, the now-delayed Local Government Elections has resulted in a split within the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

While the SLPP’s theoretician, Basil Rajapaksa, and his loyalists kept pushing for the holding of Local Government Elections, another group in the SLPP is of the view that there should not be any election at the current time. This split was witnessed by the party organisers during a recent meeting held at the SLPP Headquarters.

It was Basil’s view that postponing the Local Government Elections would have an adverse impact on the SLPP.

Meanwhile, former heads of SLPP-led Local Governments had informed Basil that it was not the time for elections. However, Basil had reprimanded the group, saying that they did not understand the ‘bigger picture’ and should therefore not promote ideas without possessing proper knowledge.

Denying collaboration

 Opposition and SJB Leader Premadasa has meanwhile claimed that he would even sleep on the streets and protest to demand the holding of Local Government Elections on the scheduled date. Addressing a rally in Kamburupitiya, Premadasa has noted that a peaceful and democratic struggle would be launched on the streets to demand polls. He has added that the struggle will be carried out on the streets continuously until elections are held.

The delaying of the holding of Local Government Elections has also resulted in the main Opposition SJB and the National People’s Power (NPP) threatening mass protests.

It is in such a backdrop that some social media reports claimed that the SJB and NPP would unite on one platform to protest against the delaying of polls and to urge the Government to hold the elections. The news reports had stated that SJB General Secretary Madduma Bandara had telephoned NPP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and discussed the possibilities of holding a series of joint protests to demand elections. The reports had further noted that Dissanayake had responded saying the two parties should hold separate protest campaigns and later join on one platform for the cause.

However, Madduma Bandara had denied the news report, claiming that he had not had any conversation about such a matter with Dissanayake and that there would be no collaboration between the SJB and JVP.

Meanwhile, the SLPP has claimed that SJB Leader Premadasa and the NPP’s Dissanayake are trying to obtain votes by misleading the public through various political statements.

Helicopter slams Maithri

 The newly-formed alliance by SLPP dissidents – the Freedom People’s Alliance (FPA) – has slammed the leader of one of their key coalition parties, the SLFP.

FPA member Dilan Perera last week slammed SLFP Leader Maithripala Sirisena, saying that he was a great burden on the new alliance since he had worked to sabotage it. Perera has further alleged that Sirisena is carrying out a secret deal with the Government to destroy the alliance. He has also noted that Sirisena is no longer a part of the alliance.

Candidates’ dilemma

 A group of candidates contesting the Local Government Elections, who are also employees of the State sector, have expressed difficulties faced by them if the polls are delayed.

They explained that since they had handed in nominations to contest the Local Government Elections, their public sector salaries have been halted during the period of elections. Hence, most of the candidates have lost their source of income.

According to these candidates, the Election Commission should refund the monies handed by candidates to contest the Local Government Elections if the polls are not being held. They pointed out that 88,000 candidates had made the payments – candidates of political parties have paid Rs. 1,500 each and independent candidates have spent Rs. 5,000 each.

Deshapriya’s alternative

 Former Election Commissioner Deshapriya has meanwhile stated that the Election Commission should look at cancelling the nominations and call for fresh ones if the Local Government Elections are delayed. He has noted that the fresh nominations could be called under the new system once the delimitation process is completed.

According to Deshapriya, the ongoing delimitation process of Local Governments is reaching its final stages. The final report of the Delimitation Committee headed by Deshapriya will be ready by the end of March.

Once the delimitation process is completed, the number of Local Government members will reduce from 8,400 to 5,000 and Deshapriya has stated that in the event the Local Government Elections are postponed, the polls will be held under the new delimitation report.

“The election has been postponed. Now all that is left for the commission is to issue the gazette postponing the election, similar to issuing a death certificate,” Deshapriya said on Wednesday (22) in Galle, while answering questions by the media following a discussion held at the Galle District Secretariat.

When asked why the election was postponed, he said that the commission had said that there was no fuel due to the QR code and ballot papers could not be printed and Police officers could not be deployed due to the lack of funds. “In addition, the Finance Ministry refuses to grant funds unless it is for an essential matter. This was postponed because this matter is outside the purview of the commission. I cannot say who should be responsible for this,” he added.

When asked if he would have held the election if he had been the chairman of the commission, he replied: “If I were there I would know how to bat. But now I am outside. I cannot tell them how to bat. The one batting should know that.” 

PSC for EC

 Meanwhile, the request made by a group of Government MPs to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to investigate the alleged incidents of violation of MPs’ privileges by the Election Commission was included in the agenda of Parliament and Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is awaiting the decision of party leaders to take the next course of action in that regard.

The letter signed by 14 SLPP MPs including MPs Milan Jayathilake, Sahan Pradeep, Sudarshana Denipitiya, Kokila Gunawardena, Janaka Thissakuttiarachchi, and Upul Rajapaksha had recently been handed over to Abeywardena, requesting the latter to immediately appoint a PSC to look into the conduct of the Election Commission, which the MPs had claimed breached the privileges of the MPs.

The letter has also noted the appointment of the Election Commission consisting of five members on 3 December 2020 and its responsibility towards Parliament under Article 104B(3) of the Constitution. In the letter, the MPs had further noted that the commission had failed to report the issues pertaining to holding the upcoming Local Government Elections to the House and that an investigation should be held to determine if MPs’ privileges had been breached.