The Election Commission (EC) yesterday (8) opined that the decision regarding going ahead with the submitted nominations for the Local Government (LG) Elections will be based on the prevailing legal framework at the time they declare the elections.
The Cabinet of Ministers recently granted approval to make necessary provisions for the recalling of nominations for indefinitely-postponed LG Elections. This decision was made in the midst of reports that several candidates who submitted nominations to contest the LG Elections have left the country, and some others have passed away.
Speaking to The Daily Morning on the matter, EC Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said that they would declare the LG Elections at earliest possible, and added that the decision whether to go ahead with the already-submitted nominations or not would be made as per the legal framework that would prevail at that time. “If the legal provisions for the recalling of nominations will be in place by then, we will have to work according to them. However, we can’t wait for a long time until such legal provisions are introduced.”
The LG Elections were initially scheduled to be held on 9 March 2023, but the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ministry and General Treasury had not released the required funds to the EC, which then rescheduled it (elections) to 25 April, and the postal voting to 28,29,30 and 31 March and 3 April 2023. Since the funds were not released by that time too, the EC once again postponed the elections, indefinitely.
Following the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling that the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, the Attorney General, and former EC members have violated the fundamental rights of citizens by postponing the LG Elections, originally scheduled for, the EC pledged that it would hold the LG Elections at the earliest possible time with due regard to its duty to hold other elections as required by the law.