- Chair says nullification only possible via P’ment Act
The Election Commission (EC) stated that the nominations called for the Local Government (LG) elections, 2023, are still valid, and that they could be cancelled only through an Act in the Parliament.
On 20 September, the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Council, and LG had unanimously consented to cancel the nominations called for the LG elections.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (27), EC Chairman, R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said that the Ministerial Consultative Committee's decision to cancel the nominations had no effect.
“It is a Ministerial Consultative Committee which has made this decision. It does not do anything. If the nominations are to be cancelled, it can be done only through a Parliamentary Act.” In response to a query as to whether the nominations are still valid, he said: “Yes, they are still in effect. Nothing has changed.”
The LG elections were initially scheduled to be held on 9 March 2023, but the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ministry and the general Treasury had not released the required funds to the EC, which then rescheduled it (the Elections) to 25 April, and the postal voting to 28, 29, 30, and 31 March and 3 April 2023. Since the funds were not released by that time too, the EC once again postponed the Elections, indefinitely.
With the continuous postponement of the LG elections, those who had submitted nominations had been lamenting that they had to face various difficulties due to the election laws and other regulations, which, in turn, led to requests for the suspension of the nominations or the related laws.
It was against that backdrop that the said Ministerial Consultative Committee had consented to cancel the nominations. The move had since seen criticism from several parties, particularly the Parliamentary Opposition and civil organisations. They have said that the cancellation of nominations would incur a loss of about Rs. 1 billion, and that it would take away the people's right to vote.