• Collective progress of 15 proposals at stake  

The Election Commission (EC) has called for fresh Cabinet approval for a series of election reforms, warning of the need to streamline the process as more than 15 proposals are currently progressing through separate channels. 

Speaking to The Daily Morning, EC Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said that Cabinet approval had been granted for some of the proposed election reforms under previous Governments. "Very recently, we came to know that the current Government should make a policy decision to continue electoral reforms. Therefore, we informed the Presidential Secretariat and the Ministry of the need to obtain the necessary Cabinet approval so that the reforms could be taken forward."

He further said: “The discontinuation of applying ink on the finger when casting votes was one of the proposals that we had submitted. Recently, that was approved separately by the Cabinet under the present Government. Other proposals include establishing special polling stations, introducing advance voting and providing facilities for overseas voting. These are moving forward separately. That is why we requested that they be approved as a package."

His comments come amid continued calls for long-pending changes to Sri Lanka’s election laws. Rathnayake had previously said that it is unfortunate that both the Government and the Opposition had not taken steps to discuss the reforms in Parliament despite repeated efforts by the EC to move the process forward.