At this moment when Sri Lanka is facing various challenges economically, an announcement has been made to hold local council elections in the middle of the challenge.
According to this, the National Election Commission has informed that preparations are being made to hold the Local Government Council elections on the 9th of March.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed the United National Party (UNP) to prepare for the elections in a context where the opposition parties are accusing the government of making various efforts to prevent the elections from being held.
United National Party General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara said that the President has advised his party members to take the necessary steps to conduct the elections.
The president mentioned this while the management council of the United National Party met yesterday under the chairmanship of the party leader and president Ranil Wickramasinghe.
Merger of parties
The main political parties in the country are contesting the elections this time, jointly with each other and separately.
According to this, the United National Party led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna led by Mahinda Rajapaksa are jointly contesting this election.
These two parties are contesting jointly in elected local councils and separately in other elected local councils.
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s national organizer and former minister Bashil Rajapaksa commented on his party’s approach to the elections.
image source, Basil Rajapaksa Facebook
“We did not contest all places with the United National Party. In most places we compete differently. We compete in 252 local councils, directly on our bud symbol. We contest on different symbols in other local councils. We are competing in Veena symbol in Jaffna. We are competing in the boat symbol in Eastern Province. We also compete in symbols like horse and tea burner. We will capture most of the seats,” said Bashil Rajapaksa.
Meanwhile, some who broke away from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa are contesting in the name of the Free People’s Alliance this time under the helicopter symbol.
Along with this alliance, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party led by former President Maithripala Sirisena is contesting in some local councils.
The party’s general secretary, Dayasiri Jayasekara, says that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party will compete alone in other areas.
image source, DAYASIRI JAYASEKARA/ FACEBOOK
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Labor Congress, which is the main party in the highlands, has prepared to contest in two regions under different symbols.
According to this, Bharat Arulsamy, who is in charge of international affairs of the Sri Lanka Labor Congress, said that he will contest in the Kandy district on his own rooster symbol and in other districts with the United National Party.
image source, BARATH ARULLSAMY/ FACEBOOK
Meanwhile, General Secretary of the United National Party, Palitha Range Bandara, says that the notification for the election has been issued for the purpose of holding the election.
He also mentions that the Commissioner General of Elections has assured him that the elections will be held.
He also says that the nomination petition has been filed to hold the election.
The United People’s Shakti, which is the main opposition party, is competing in the United People’s Alliance in this election only by uniting with its alliance parties.
image source, UMACHANDRAA PRAGASH/ FACEBOOK
Umachandra Prakash, media spokesperson of the Tamil wing of the party, gave an opinion to BBC Tamil regarding the manner in which his party will contest the elections.
“The basic structure of our country is the local councils. There should be authorization to manage basic needs including drainage projects, waste management. We cannot accept banning money by saying that there is no money in the country. It is necessary to celebrate the Independence Day of our country. However, amidst the economic crisis the country is in, we are spending millions for a one-day celebration. But asking to postpone the election is a reactionary piece of shit on the part of the government. We see this as Ranil Wickramasinghe’s plan to show that Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, which captured the local councils in 2018, is still in power. The government is going all out to delay the elections. But we are waiting for the election with the hope that democracy is alive and well,” said Uma Chandra Prakash, media spokesperson of the Tamil wing of the United People’s Power.
Parties including Tamil Progressive Alliance, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, All Sri Lankan People’s Congress and United People’s Shakti are looking forward to this election as a coalition.
Meanwhile, the Tamil National Federation, which was the main alliance representing the people of the North and East, has split in this election.
The Sri Lankan Tamil Rasu Party, which was the main party of the Tamil National Federation, has separated from the federation and is facing the elections alone this time.
In this situation, the protest groups involved in the Eelam liberation struggle have taken over the Tamil National Federation.
According to this, Siddhartha-led People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOT), Selvam Adigalanathan-led Tamil Eelam Liberation Movement (DELO), Kathir-led Democratic Militant Party, Suresh Premachandran-led Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front and Srikanta’s Tamil National Party have formed the alliance.
Will elections be held?
image source, SAJITH PREMADASA/ FACEBOOK
The Election Expenditure Regulation Act was passed by a majority vote in the Parliament of Sri Lanka on the 19th.
However, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa had recently told the Parliament that by bringing this bill, the elections could be postponed.
“There is a new law regarding elections in Sri Lanka. Any citizen of the country can approach the court to demand that elections be held in accordance with the new law. What will surely happen then?. Yes, there will be a situation where the court will have to give a verdict. “According to the new law passed by the Parliament, the court will direct these election proceedings to go ahead,” says Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa.
However, the National Elections Commission informed the High Court that all steps are being taken to conduct the elections on the specified date.
According to this, the High Court issued a notice to hold the local government council elections on March 09.
The Commissioner General of the National Election Commission, Samal Sri Ratnayake, has commented to the media regarding the conduct of the election.
“All preliminary steps have been taken to conduct the elections on March 9. Budgeting and economics remain challenging for the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance. Previous Secretaries had also faced these challenges. This is the democratic right of the people of this country. Those responsible should be held accountable,” he says.
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