• Chair notes disruption of reg. process during poll times/party inactivity/political horse trading, to propose amendments to P’ment Polls Act to P’ment 
• Notes uphill battle as party reg. is fundamentally protected as Constitutional right  

As the number of political parties being registered increasingly causes various problems, the Election Commission (EC) stated that it is currently studying the possibility of proposing amendments to the Parliament in order to impose some limitations on political party registrations.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, EC Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said that under the existing Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981, the Commission is legally required to call for applications to register political parties every January. However, if an election is taking place, he said that the process must be suspended until the conclusion of that election. 

“That is why we called for applications in January of this year (2025) but halted the process due to the Local Government Elections. We are now continuing the work, and in January of next year (2026), we are again required to call for applications.”

He noted that the growing number of political parties has caused various problems, particularly during the conduct of elections. “At present, there are 86 registered political parties. This year alone, more than 80 new applications were received. Registering political parties unnecessarily is an issue. As a solution, we are currently studying whether we can make a proposal to the Parliament to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act so as to impose some limitations on registering political parties. But, this is not an easy task, because political rights are guaranteed by the Constitution, and party registration is a fundamental part of those rights.”

Speaking further, Rathnayake pointed out that many parties are registered without engaging in any meaningful activity. “Some political parties are formed genuinely to engage in politics but others are set up for certain other reasons. During election periods, major political parties draw smaller parties into their fold, sometimes through transactions. Party symbols are also bought and sold at high prices. Another significant number of registered parties remain inactive. However, we have no authority to take action against any of those.”

The EC stated recently that interviews for new political parties applying for registration for 2025 have commenced. The Commissioner-General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake said that 83 applications were received in February, of which 36 were rejected for not meeting the basic requirements. Preliminary interviews are now being held for the remaining 47 applicants, and those that qualify will be called for a second round of interviews. The parties that pass the second stage will then be officially registered as political parties for 2025.