In a letter addressed to R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, Chairman of the Election Commission of Sri Lanka,
political analyst and columnist Kusal Perera has accused the Commission of deliberately stalling the long-overdue Provincial Council (PC) elections under the guise of legal ambiguity.
The letter, sent on Tuesday, follows a report published in The Morning (link:- PC Polls: Government yet to consult EC) on 20 May, which quoted Chairman Rathnayake as saying that the PC elections could only be held if either the delimitation process is completed or the existing election law is amended to revert to the old system.
Perera, however, contends that this interpretation misrepresents the current legal framework.
Referring to the still-active Provincial Councils Elections Act No. 02 of 1988, he argues that there is no legal void preventing the Commission from proceeding with the elections.
“This argument is an old and invalid one that was also used by your predecessor, Mahinda Deshapriya, to align with the political agenda of the ruling government. It is not the responsibility of the EC and its Chairman to intervene in making new law. Their responsibility is to deliver on existing law. That’s precisely what the EC is not doing,” he noted.
Perera pointed out that Parliament’s failure to pass amendments or conclude the delimitation process does not nullify the existing legislation. “It is common knowledge that until a new law is enacted and signed by the Speaker, the existing law remains valid,” he said.
The delay in holding PC elections has been a point of contention for years, with no elections held since the terms of the councils lapsed in 2018.
Critics argue that the postponement undermines democratic representation at the provincial level and disenfranchises millions of voters.
Calling on the Commission to act independently and uphold its constitutional mandate, Perera urged the Election Commission to announce a date for the elections without further delay. “As an ‘independent commission,’ your responsibility to the taxpayer… is to ensure his or her sovereign right is not infringed upon, on invalid arguments and for political interests.”