The former Chairman of the Election Commission and current Chairman of the Delimitation Committee Mahinda Deshapriya in an interview with The Sunday Morning asserted that he was against the postponement of elections and that he believed the Election Commission was in the right in the current controversy.
“My personal opinion is that I’m not for the postponement of elections according to the schedule. Already this election has been delayed more than a year,” he said.
He also revealed that the interim report of the Delimitation Committee would be submitted next week. “We are going to hand over the interim report first because we have to ask for another one month extension,” Deshapriya noted.
Following are excerpts of the interview:
What is the status of the delimitation report?
We are going to hand over the interim report first because we have to ask for another one month extension as we faced some problems with regard to district committees. One problem is that three Government Agents were promoted and two retired.
The ex-officios of the committees are the District Deputy Secretary or Assistant Election Commissioner, Senior Superintendent of Surveyors, District Statistician, Area Commissioner of Local Government or Assistant Commissioner of Local Government, and another member nominated by the Government officer nominated by the Local Government Minister. Of these ex-officio committee members, 17 statisticians have been transferred from 2 January, so 17 out of 25 districts had problems. They had worked only for two months when they were transferred.
Additionally, more than 10 senior survey superintendents were transferred, retired, or promoted. Due to the busy workload of the Assistant and Deputy Election Commissioner we couldn’t get their full support.
Normally these delimitation committees are supported by the Survey Department and the Election Commission, but this time, due to the election schedule, the Election Commission was not available to support fully. Another issue is that in Sri Lanka we don’t have enough Sinhala-Tamil and Sinhala-English translators.
Has the number of councillors been reduced by about half as requested?
The Government has asked us to reduce the 8,400 members to about 4,000. We have told the Prime Minister who is the subject Minister for Local Governments and the President that if we are going to reduce the number to 4,000, it would mean the elected members would come to 2,400 and the return members to 1,600. Right now we have 5,092 elected members so if we are going to reduce the total number of councillors to 4,000-odd, we will have to reduce these 5,092 elected members by more than 50%. This is very difficult.
Another matter we discussed was to secure, as much as possible, the representation of numerical minorities. We also discussed securing a minimum of 25% compulsory female quota. It is very difficult to do all these things if we are going to reduce the total number of councillors to 4,000. The ideal number is the number proposed by the 2012 delimitation report which was 6,000 members. However, the Government wants to keep it at around 4,000 which means less than 5,000.
Therefore, we reduced the wards to between 2,850 to 2,900 – the total members will then be 4,800 to 4,850. We have completed five districts. Of the remaining 20, we have finalised the numbers, boundaries, and other things in another 19 districts. In the final district, Kalutara, we have finished more than 60% of the work. We only have to finalise around six to seven councils. We also have to prepare ward maps afresh.
When will the report be concluded?
The difficult part is preparing the gazette notification. We have to prepare it in all three languages. That means around 3,000 wards including the parts of the ward, number of wards, names of the wards, and the boundaries of that ward must be included. This process would take around six months but we are working very fast so we think we can finish the gazette notification.
The issue is the translation to Tamil and English. We also have to write the report. Now we are preparing the interim report and will hand it over next week, on 27 or 28 February, to the Prime Minister and the President. It will also be available to the recognised political parties.
Our final report will be handed over to the President in April. Then the minister can appoint the review committee. The review committee can only change the names, the numbers of the wards, and the boundaries of the wards. They can’t change the number of councillors. This will take another three months.
For Colombo, there are 66 elected members and 44 return members and eight members as overhang – a total of 110. We have reduced this to a total 61 members of whom 37 are elected and 24 are return members. Overhang members will only be known after the election has been held. My point is that we have to eliminate this overhang.
How will the delimitation report affect the current Local Government Elections?
This report does not need the approval of the Parliament. My personal opinion is that I’m not for the postponement of elections according to the schedule. Already this election has been delayed more than a year. The minister has the power to give an extension to all the councils, this is very wrong. The Government must change this rule. It is not democratic. So if they don’t hold the elections before 31 August and the Government wants to go for this report, I have nothing special to say.
I’m against postponing the election. The Government has to pass a bill to annul the current nomination papers and that is the only way this delimitation report can have an impact on the current Local Government Polls. On three previous occasions, our Parliament has done that.
Considering the financial restrictions of the country, should the Election Commission have proposed a later date for the Local Government Elections or were their hands tied?
They could not have given a date later than 9 March because the elections were already delayed. Their hands were tied. Now the election is almost dead; there is no chance of having it by 9 March. So the Election Commission must issue the gazette notification under Section 38(3) to postpone the election and announce a new date. However, before that, it must consult with the Treasury and find out when it can release the money.
The most recent reason given by the Government Printer for failing to print the ballot papers for the postal vote was because Police protection was not provided. Do you think her explanation is acceptable?
Normally they need Police security to transport the ballot papers under Police protection. But that issue could have been resolved through discussion between the Election Commission, the IGP, and the Government Printer. This is not the duty of the Election Commission alone. All Government offices and the State must work together to conduct elections as soon as possible.
Do you feel the Government should have done more to provide the funds given that Rs. 10 billion was allocated via the Budget?
The commission doesn’t ask for Rs. 10 billion in one go for the Treasury to oblige. Also, the entire Rs. 10 billion will not be needed. I think they could have managed with Rs. 8 billion. They need at least 50% of the money to conduct the election. If the Treasury doesn’t give the funds, then the commission cannot conduct the election.
You were the Chairman of the Election Commission for a decade, have been a part of the Election Office for more than three decades, and have overseen historical elections such as the 2015 Presidential Election. Do you accept the postponement of the Local Government Polls for the current reasons that are depriving the masses of the right to franchise?
All elections are a part of sovereignty. The Supreme Court has given a judgement that every election is a right of expression. Therefore, postponing this election cannot be justified under any circumstances. We have to conduct the election.
Do you think the behaviour of the Government regarding funding and timing of the Local Government Polls sets a bad precedence?
If it continues like this there will be serious problems. However, I hope that even in this election the problem will soon be resolved. The commission can discuss the matter with authorities and conduct the election. I’m always thinking with a positive mind.
A gazette notification was published by the Election Commission announcing the election. So is it correct to say that elections have been officially called?
Yes.
Today (23) in Parliament the President said that the Elections are not legal. Is that correct?
I don’t know. I listened to the President’s speech and that must be clarified by the Election Commission. The Election Commission must definitely address the doubt of the people because we are in the dark.
As the former Chairman, if you were in this position, what would your opinion be?
Why should I put my bat forward to these types of balls? This question is an out-swinging ball so I’m not going to bat and answer the question. Let the commission answer.
The Commissioner General of Election has informed us that they cannot respond to what the President said in Parliament because it is privileged but with regard to the election being called it is fully legal and pointed out that even the United National Party (UNP) had submitted nominations. So what is your view as the former chairman?
If the President said these things, who can say who is correct? The commission must prove through the documents. They must show the minutes of their meetings and disprove the claims and show how they decided the election dates, etc. They have four members available from the commission so at least three of them must come together and have a press conference because everyone is in the dark. I personally believe that the Election Commission is correct. However, the President made some claims that must be clarified.
What lessons can the Election Commission learn and what changes can be done to ensure such behaviour is not repeated in the future?
Not only the commission but all the citizens of the country from top to bottom must be responsible. There is a saying: ‘All citizens are politicians.’ They have a duty. They think that ‘we need,’ then how can they stop postponing the election? Everyone must work together from all sides.