• To await outcome of PM-Prez meeting

The Election Commission (EC) is yet to take a decision on whether or not it will discuss with President and Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe about the problematic situation that has arisen regarding the release of the funds necessary for the Local Government (LG) election, The Daily Morning learned.

State Minister of Local Government Janaka Wakkumbura recently said that they had requested the EC to discuss with the Finance Ministry and the Treasury regarding the release of the necessary funds for the LG election.

The Daily Morning queried EC Chairman, Attorney Nimal G. Punchihewa as to whether the EC would seek a discussion with Wickremesinghe on the matter. In response, he said: "The reply that we have got is that the Finance Ministry and the Treasury have forwarded our requests to release the necessary funds to the subject Minister (Wickremesinghe), but that there is no response from him. Therefore, we will first see what the outcome of the intervention that would be made by Prime Minister and LG Minister Dinesh Gunawardena will be. We will then decide on the course of action that we should take."

During a recent meeting with the EC, Gunawardena had agreed to have a discussion with Wickremesinghe and intervene to provide the necessary facilities including the financial provisions for the LG election. Several matters pertaining to the LG election such as the non-release of the required funds and the Attorney General not appearing for the EC in related legal proceedings had been discussed during it.

The LG election was initially scheduled to be held on 9 March, but the Finance Ministry and the Treasury had not released the required funds to the EC. The EC then rescheduled the LG election to 25 April, and the postal voting to 28, 29, 30 and 31 March and 3 April, but the required funds are yet to be released. Against this backdrop, the EC again postponed the LG clection for the second time, indefinitely.