• P’ment dissolved on Tue.; 4-11 Oct. nomination period for P’ment Poll; 14 Nov. the P’ment Poll; 21 Nov. the 17th P’ment  

The Election Commission (EC) confirmed that the General/Parliamentary Election of this year will require a budget of Rs. 10 billion.

“The budget for the Parliamentary Election will be Rs. 10 billion,” EC Chairperson  R.M.A.L. Rathnayake told The Daily Morning yesterday (25). “We will have to manage with this amount and I believe that we can.”

The budget for the Presidential Election was also Rs. 10 billion and included costs for printing ballot papers and for the provision of security. 

Meanwhile, the Extraordinary Gazette notification issued by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dissolving the Parliament is effective from midnight Tuesday (24). The relevant Gazette notification had been sent to the Government Printer to be published and it has been published by the Department of Government Printing. The proclamation summons the new Parliament to meet on 21 November,. It has also fixed 14 November as the date for the General/Parliamentary Election. The Gazette notification further specifies the period beginning from 4 October and ending at 12 noon on 11 October as the nomination period, during which nomination papers shall be received by the Returning Officers. The President has issued the Gazette by virtue of the powers vested in him by Article 70 of the Constitution and in pursuance of the provisions of Section 10 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981.

The Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna-led National People’s Power, Dissanayake won the Presidential Poll over the weekend by beating 37 other candidates and garnering over 5.6 million or 42.3% of the votes. During the Election campaign, Dissanayake vowed to dissolve the Parliament if he wins and call a snap Parliamentary Election. His Party has just four Parliamentarians. Dissanayake was sworn into office on Monday (23) while he appointed Dr. Harini Amarasuriya as the Prime Minister on Tuesday. On the same day, he appointed a three-Member Cabinet of Ministers which includes the NPP’s Vijitha Herath, Dr. Amarasuriya and himself, which will serve as the caretaker government until the Poll is held.  

The present Parliament’s five-year term ends in August of next year (2025).