• Vinivida Foundation opposes EC rejection of Vinivida’s registration as a political party  

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) of the Parliamentary Opposition claimed that all the allegations made by certain parties regarding its registration were baseless and that therefore, necessary actions will be taken in this regard accordingly.

A motion was filed before the Supreme Court on Tuesday (6) challenging the registration of the JVP-led NPP by the Election Commission (EC). The Vinivida Foundation’s Secretary and attorney Nagananda Kodituwakku has put forward the motion pertaining to a petition filed against the EC’s decision to reject the registration of the ‘Vinivida Foundation’ as a political party. Kodituwakku claims that the registration of the NPP as a political Party is completely against the law. Pursuant to Article 103(2) of the Constitution, registering different branches of one party as separate political parties is in violation of the election laws, he claims. It also violates the right to free and fair elections guaranteed by the Constitution, Kodituwakku pointed out further.

Against this backdrop, NPP member and attorney Sunil Watagala yesterday (7) told The Daily Morning that while the NPP has not been informed formally regarding the issue thus far, they had however come across some media reports that Kodituwakku has made allegations regarding the NPP's registration. He further said that the allegations made by the said political group are baseless, and that therefore, the NPP is not going to answer to the said party in this regard. He noted that all the required standards have been followed by the NPP in its registration and that hence, no issue will arise. 

“We are not going to panic and answer to the said person. We know that we have followed the standards. We are expecting many such challenges in the future,” he added.

Several attempts made to contact the Elections Commissioner General proved futile.