• EC not consulted on moves to amend 

Although the Cabinet on Monday (18) once again approved a proposal by the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms to amend existing election laws, the Election Commission (EC) says that it has not been informed of the move while Opposition and minor parties emphasise that such attempts must not affect the crucial upcoming election cycle of the country. 

A Cabinet decision on Monday noted that the need of revising the current electoral system had been identified in order to “meet the objectives of the Election Expenses Regulation Act No.3 of 2023 and to achieve a fully democratic election”. It went on to say that it had been suggested to elect 160 Members of Parliament (MPs) directly from the voters of the respective constituencies and that the remaining 65 MPs be elected from national or provincial levels according to the proportional voting system. 

“Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal submitted by the Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms to advise the Legal Draftsman to draft the necessary laws, taking into account the recommendations made by the committee appointed under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister to amend the electoral system,” the decision read. 

EC in the dark

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, EC Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said the EC had not been informed of or consulted about any amendments, noting that it too had learnt of the move “through the papers”. 

“We don’t know the timelines or about the amendments as we were not consulted about this. They just brought this in by themselves,” said Rathnayake, noting that the EC had only given its views to the Delimitation Commission appointed to decide the delimitations of divisions of Local Government bodies, headed by former Chairman of the EC Mahinda Deshapriya.

The commission operated in 2023, with Opposition parties and critics alleging that it was merely being used to postpone the Local Government Elections which were scheduled for the year. The Government has indefinitely postponed the Local Government Elections, citing a number of reasons, including a lack of funds. 

A trail of committees 

People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi, speaking to The Sunday Morning, questioned the origins of the recommendations that the Cabinet decision was referring to, noting the long trail of committees in the past that had attempted to reform the election law in the country to no avail.

“There were multiple committees through the decades. In 2003, there was a committee headed by [current Prime Minister] Dinesh Gunawardena. In 2006 again, there was another committee headed by him. Once more in 2022, another committee was headed by Gunawardena for the same purpose. Then there is a report about the Local Government bodies. There are about five reports given by various constitutional reform committees over the years. The current President has also appointed another electoral reform committee,” said Hettiarachchi. 

In October 2023, President Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed a 10-member commission headed by former Chief Justice Priyasath Dep to amend the election laws to “suit the present needs”. However, The Sunday Morning learns that it was not this commission’s recommendations that led to the most recent Cabinet decision, as the commission is only due to submit its report in April.

The latest Cabinet decision however refers to the recommendations made by the committee headed by the Prime Minister. Despite this, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara, who was part of the committee, said that they had not reached a final decision on the reforms, while Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Leader Mano Ganesan said that from the 16 committee members, only eight had signed the report. “So they have no legitimacy,” Ganesan told The Sunday Morning. 

Questionable reforms 

Meanwhile, PAFFREL Executive Director Hettiarachchi said that while they would not oppose electoral reforms that would enable a single and proportional mixed election system, the Cabinet decision did not specify the type. 

“We agree to a mixed system. However, with this proposal we don’t know whether the 70:30 representation would be done on the basis of the mixed system. If it is that, we are not opposing it. Without that, minor parties will be affected. For instance, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) will be completely out of the race then. Parties like those of Mano Ganesan will also be out. President Wickremesinghe will also never come because the United National Party (UNP) didn’t win even a single seat. Then minor parties will be drained away completely and only one or two major parties will be left behind,” cautioned Hettiarachchi.

Ganesan said that minor parties could not support the “urgency” of the Cabinet decision as they could not see why the Government was attempting to amend Parliamentary Election laws when a Presidential Election was looming ahead. 

“We in the TPA, along with other minor parties, do not agree to this. We have discussed with the other minor parties and we oppose it and we will inform the President about it. We request him to first hold the elections, then we can freely change the laws. Minor parties, including the JVP, will not get any chance with this.”

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Spokesperson M.A. Sumanthiran, PC also said that their concern was that electoral reforms should have been undertaken as soon as the Parliament came into existence and “not at the tail-end of that Parliament’s term”. 

“When you try to do that, you’re targeting the next election. That itself is wrong, so I don’t think any electoral reform should be undertaken at this stage. We don’t know what the proposals are and whatever they may be, we will not be in agreement with undertaking electoral reforms at this point in time. This is the wrong time to do that. Elections are due any moment.”