Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Chairman and incumbent Opposition MP Prof. G.L. Peiris claimed that the Government is attempting to postpone the Local Government (LG) election by propagating an opinion that there is a division among the members of the Election Commission (EC) regarding the holding of the LG election, and also engaging the Attorney General’s (AG’s) Department for LG election-related work.
Speaking at a media briefing today (9), he said: “Now, news is being published that the EC is divided over the holding of the LG election, and that EC members are holding differing views regarding it. Representatives of the Government are propagating an idea that the EC members should first come to a common position on the LG election. If not, they say that there is a serious issue regarding the conduct of the said election. This is completely false and there is no such division among the EC members.”
Presenting the gazette notification issued by the EC in December 2022 regarding the conduct of the LG election, he said that it is evident through it that there is no division among the EC members. He said that the relevant gazette notification, which is the official declaration of the LG election, has been signed by all EC members including its Chairman and Attorney Nimal G. Punchihewa, S.B. Divaratne, M.M. Mohamed, K.P.P. Pathirana, and P.S.M. Charles, and added that the same confirms that the EC members are of one view.
Speaking further, Prof. Peiris said: “The next misconduct of the Government is involving the AG in this matter. The AG does not have any regular powers to cross examine the members of the EC and to examine documents, etc. Simply, the AG has no role in this entire process, and has absolutely no ability to express a binding opinion.
“There are countless cases where the AG’s opinion was completely rejected by the Supreme Court. If an impression is created in the minds of the people that the AG is being used as a pawn, it is unfortunate. We don’t have a problem with individuals, but it will cause great damage to the post of the AG.”
While several Opposition parties have charged that the Government is attempting to postpone the LG election, and have even gone to court over the same, the EC is currently making necessary arrangements for the holding of the said election.
However, it was recently reported that the EC members hold differing views regarding the conduct of the said election, and that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had, during a recent meeting with the EC members, told them to reach a common decision concerning the same.