The Election Commission (EC) is in a struggle to carry out its essential and urgent election duties as the Treasury has given only Rs. 100 million to the EC in spite of demanding Rs. 770 million for its day today tasks, Chairman of the Commission, Nimal Punchihewa charged yesterday.
If the Treasury continues to delay the funding of the EC, the Commission has no option other than reporting to the Supreme Court, Punchihewa added.
“The budget 2023 has allocated Rs. 10 billion for the EC in a special vote in Parliament as the EC is an independent Commission. We are hopeful that the EC could successfully conclude the Local Government (LG) polls with a budget of Rs. 3 or 4 billion by March 9. The Commission last week requested only Rs. 770 million out of Rs. 10 billion for the month of February to carry out immediate tasks related to the March 9 LG polls. The underfunding has put the EC in a severe financial constraint,” lamented Punchihewa.
“The Supreme Court has given the green light to the EC to go ahead with the LG election. Therefore, the EC does not expect any act of sabotage from any outside source or authority. As such, the Treasury and the Finance Ministry have a constitutional and official obligation to transfer sufficient funds to the EC in time to ensure a free and fair election,” Mr. Punchihewa told Daily Mirror.
The EC will have to extend another request to the Treasury for election expenses for the month of March after calculating the cost to complete the election on March 9. The EC requires a minimum of Rs. 3 billion to conclude the LG polls on March 9 as most of the expenses borne by other state establishments like the Police Department, Government Printer and payments to public officials for election duties are made after the conclusion of the election.
Asked by the Daily Mirror whether there would be any change to the status quo of the commission after March 9th, Punchihewa stressed that the EC has a responsibility even after the polls until the issuance of the gazette notification with the names of members elected, political parties and independent groups and wards of each 339 local council bodies.