The Freedom People’s Congress political movement, led by ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) breakaways now sitting independently in the Parliamentary Opposition, has filed a case in the Supreme Court (SC) requesting the dismissal of any attempts to further postpone the Local Government (LG) election and to reassert the need to hold the said election before 30 March as per the Constitution.
Members of the Election Commission (EC) and the Prime Minister, as the Minister of Local Government, have been named as respondents in this case.
“We have filed a court case to legally reject any attempts by the Government to hold off the LG election any further. Accordingly, they will have to hold the said election by the last week of February or early March to meet the deadline set by the Constitution,” said Freedom People’s Congress Leader and SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris, while addressing the media yesterday (2).
Furthermore, he emphasised that several previous court cases have ruled against the postponement of the said election any further and that they be held before 20 March.
“It is a Constitutional and legal requirement to fulfil the vacancies of all 340 LG authorities in the country by 30 March, and for that to be met, the Supreme Court has decided that the said election has to be concluded by 20 March at the latest,” affirmed Peiris.
However, he elaborated that if all these attempts are proven futile in holding the election in due time, the Freedom People’s Congress is ready to activate a four-step mechanism against the further postponement of the poll.
“This will start within Parliament, and then move to the country as a whole. Thirdly, we would file suits in the High Court, while as our last resort, we would go international with our concerns that democracy is being undermined by the current Government. We believe that our fellow Opposition parties will aid us in this endeavour.”
Moreover, discussing the Government’s concerns over the lack of funds to hold the election, Peiris revealed that the Government will require only Rs. 10 billion out of the State expenditure for 2023, questioning as to why the Government is reluctant to spend those funds, whereas it is able to appoint many a State Minister and Cabinet Minister, incurring many unnecessary costs from the Government Budget.