State Minister assures Finance Ministry will by abide by Supreme Court order
State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has assured that the order issued by the Supreme Court barring the withholding of funds allocated for the 2023 Local Government (LG) election.
The Supreme Court yesterday (03 March) issued an interim order preventing the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance form withholding the funds allocated through the 2023 Budget for the LG polls.
The court also issued another interim order preventing the retention of funds allocated for the Department of Government Printing, for the purpose of printing ballot papers.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Sri Lanka has decided to convene a special meeting on 07 March in order to reach conclusive date on which the 2023 polls will be held.
Accordingly, all relevant officials including the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, the Government Printer and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) have been informed to attend the meeting, following an order issued by the Supreme Court instructing that a date for the election be announced before 09 March – the date on which the polls were initially scheduled to be held. .