Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government Parliamentarian Jayantha Ketagoda said that he presented a private Member motion seeking to empower the relevant subject Minister to recall the Local Government (LG) bodies that have been dissolved, only on the grounds that the LG bodies could not be run without people’s representatives, and since candidates who had submitted nominations for the LG Elections have become ‘prisoners’ due to election laws.
Last week, Ketagoda tabled a private Member motion in the Parliament, seeking to empower the Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and LG Minister to extend the tenure of LG bodies without holding the LG Elections. The motion has since seen opposition from several parties including the main Parliamentary Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).
Speaking to The Daily Morning on the matter, Ketagoda said that he is of the view that either the LG Elections should be held, or the LG bodies should be recalled until the elections are held. “I have also been serving as a LG representative, so I know that they cannot be run without the people’s representatives. For instance, now, there are issues pertaining to the Aswesuma Social Welfare Programme everywhere, but there is no one that the people can talk to. The officials cannot deliver the responsibilities of the LG bodies.”
He also said that more than 80,000 candidates who have submitted nominations for the LG Elections have now become ‘prisoners’ due to election laws. “More than 80,000 people including Government servants have submitted nominations. They have become prisoners now. The Government servants have been transferred to distant areas, their salaries and allowances have been curtailed, and they cannot even speak at a forum. Their hands have been tied by election laws. Who is there to speak for them? Their rights are also about democracy.”
Speaking further, Ketagoda said that if there will be any advantage or disadvantage to former LG councillors and members due to his proposal, they will be not only for the SLPPers, but also for other party members. “I have not asked to recall only SLPP members. I have asked to recall all LG councillors and members irrespective of their party, and to allow them to work for the people. If the Government cannot pay for them in the current situation, they will even be ready to work voluntarily. This is all I have proposed, and nothing against democracy.”
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Rohana Hettiarachchi has filed an application before the Supreme Court (SC), requesting that certain clauses of the private Member motion that has been tabled by Ketagoda in the Parliament, be ruled as being against the Constitution. The Attorney General, President’s Counsel Sanjay Rajaratnam has been named as the respondent. He has claimed in the petition that the voting rights of the public are being violated by transferring the authority to extend the tenure of LG bodies to the subject Minister.
Meanwhile, speaking to The Daily Morning recently, the Commissioner General of Elections, Saman Sri Rathnayake said that there is a legal possibility to extend the tenure of LG bodies through the passage of an Act, but that it is not ethical to do so. “We don’t believe that this Bill would go that far. When the people have given the power to LG councillors and members for only four years, it is not ethical to extend their tenures in this manner. Some former LG councillors and members are even candidates who have submitted nominations for the LG Elections.”
The LG Elections were initially scheduled to be held on 9 March, but the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ministry and the general Treasury had not released the required funds to the Election Commission (EC). The EC then rescheduled the LG Elections to 25 April, and the postal voting to 28, 29, 30 and 31 March and 3 April, but the required funds are yet to be released. Against this backdrop, the EC again postponed the LG Elections indefinitely.