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The changes that may come soon to electoral laws and system

27 Jun 2022

  • Electoral reforms Select Committee presents final report to Parliament last week
BY Buddhika Samaraweera   The final report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to Identify Appropriate Reforms of the Election Laws and the Electoral System and to Recommend Necessary Amendments, headed by Leader of the House and Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils (PCs) and Local Government (LG) Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, was presented to the Parliament on 22 June. The committee has made several recommendations with regard to the election system, female and youth representation in politics, the recognition of political parties, the media, election campaigning, voting rights, the nomination process, the electoral process, an election tribunal, the national list, and delimitation. Noting that the majority has expressed that the number of representatives of LG authorities elected under the proportional representation (PR) system should be reduced, the committee has observed that the number of representatives of the LG bodies has been almost doubled by the LG Election, held in 2018. The report states that all members of the committee are in agreement to reduce the number of elected members in LG authorities and that it is appropriate to continue with the current mixed system (Wards and PR) of the LG election, which was introduced by the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act, No. 16 of 2017 and first implemented in the LG Election held in 2018, with necessary changes. The committee has also recommended that the existing ratio for the First Past the Post (60%) and the PR (40%) should be continued. It is also mentioned in the report that the committee was in agreement to hold the PCs Election under the PR system that existed prior to the enactment of the PCs Elections (Amendment) Act, No. 17 of 2017. It has recommended that suitable legislation be enacted enabling the PCs Election to be conducted under the PR system, initially, until legislation is drafted for a mixed election system with the necessary delimitation as per the ratio mentioned in the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act, No. 16 of 2017. The committee has further recommended that the proposed legislation be submitted for the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to hold the PCs Elections. With regard to the Parliamentary Election, the committee has stated that it is of the view that the total number of MPs, should be retained as 225. It has proposed the introduction of a mixed system for the Parliamentary Election, i.e. 70% electorate and 30% PR or 65% electorate and 35% PR or 60% electorate and 40% PR. Noting that the necessary legislation with the relevant constitutional amendments should be brought into implement this proposal, the committee has mentioned in the report that some of the members of the committee were however of the view that any change in the Parliamentary Election system would severely affect the representation of the minorities. It has also recommended the establishment of a single Delimitation Commission as the legal authority which could undertake all delimitation work related to elected bodies after conducting a national census. Observing that there is a necessity of establishing a permanent structure that would need to review and revise delimitation from time to time, the committee has stated that it is not appropriate to appoint ad-hoc committees. The committee, in its final report, has stated that one of the most important problems in contemporary politics is the inadequate number of females engaged in politics. While 52% of the Sri Lankan population is female, their representation in political entities remains very low. The Parliamentary Election held in 2019 elected only 12 females to the Parliament as opposed to 213 males who were elected, the report read. A recommendation has been made by the committee to continue the mandatory provision for a minimum 25% of quota for females in terms of the provisions of the existing Act for LG authorities. It has further recommended that necessary legislation be formulated to make it mandatory to allocate a 20% quota for females in the nomination list for Wards, enabling them to establish themselves in politics through the election process and the said provision to be made mandatory in all elections. The allocation of a 50% quota for females in the additional list (PR list) should also be retained. The committee further recommended that necessary legislation should be formulated to make it mandatory that every third candidate nominated by a party secretary from the national list in the Parliamentary Election shall be a female candidate. With regard to youth representation in politics, the committee has recommended that necessary legislation be brought in to make it mandatory to allocate a 25% quota for youth representation in LG Elections and PCs Elections. Accordingly, the youth should comprise of both males and females below 35 years of age. "The committee considered the proposal submitted by the Election Commission (EC) relating to the recognition of political parties and recommended that the recognition of political parties should be made on the basis of voter acceptance. A political party is treated as a ‘registered political party’ when any organisation meets the requirements of the Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981, and only a party symbol is allocated for a registered political party. Such a political party is registered as a ‘recognised political party’ after having been active in politics by contesting in elections and if the Election Commission is satisfied with their activities. The committee and the Election Commission are in agreement to recognise alliances subject to the prevailing laws,” the report read. Although the State media that fails to comply with the guidelines issued by the Election Commission could be held liable for non-compliance with such guidelines, the committee has stated that privately owned media institutions have been imposed only a duty to take all necessary steps for the compliance of the guidelines. As such, the committee has mentioned that no action could be initiated by the Election Commission in the event of a violation of these guidelines by the privately owned media. Further claiming that the relevant guidelines had not been brought before the Parliament for approval in terms of the Constitution, the committee has recommended that these guidelines be brought before the Parliament for its approval and an effective mechanism be evolved to periodically monitor them. It has further recommended that necessary legislation be enacted to strengthen the Election Commission on the subject to be made along with amendments to the Constitution in order to ensure compliance of private media with the guidelines. The committee has further stated that an appropriate methodology should be implemented to provide an equal opportunity for every candidate to carry out political propaganda activities by regulating the exorbitant charges levied by the electronic media. The report further read that legislation should be formulated to prevent the dissemination of false information, the misinterpretation of information, and election propaganda activities carried out by social media platforms in violation of election laws. Noting that the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to instruct the Legal Draftsman to finalise the drafting of the Bill to amend the present legal provisions expeditiously with regard to the control of election expenses so as to meet the current requirement, the committee has recommended that further action be taken to enact the law which provides for the control of election expenses.  It is further stated that an effective mechanism should be evolved to comply with the directions issued by the Election Commission which prevents the deployment of public officials and the use of State resources, State property, vehicles, buildings, and official powers for election campaigns or political purposes, and to treat a violation of such directions to be an election offence. Furthermore, the committee has recommended that the existing rules and regulations be amended to allow groups such as employees of investment zones, media institutions, pharmacies, the tourist sector, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets, domestic servants, and those living far from their registered polling stations to cast their vote at alternate polling centres on the polling day in the electoral district in which they work. “Inmates in hospitals, quarantine centres, and long-term care facilities, voters who cannot travel to polling stations due to complete immobility, and prisoners should be given the opportunity to cast their votes at mobile polling stations. Legal provisions should also be made to do away with the mandatory requirement of providing medical certificates for disabled persons to vote and they should be provided with the opportunity to cast their votes through mobile polling stations. Blind people should be allowed to use the Braille system to cast their votes,” the report added. Observing that there is a need for the introduction of an electronic voting system to reduce the heavy expenditure incurred by the Election Commission for manpower during elections and averting any delays in releasing election results, the committee has recommended the introduction of an electronic voting system in elections. In respect to the nomination process, the committee has stated that the submission of declarations of assets and liabilities at the point and date of the handing over of nominations must be made a mandatory criterion for a candidate to be eligible to contest in an election. It added that the specimen used to declare the assets and liabilities of the candidates and elected members should be updated so as to meet the current requirements.  The committee report further read that all political parties and independent groups should make deposits and that the existing deposit amounts should be revised significantly to suit the prevailing monetary situation. “The committee recommends that a period of 24 hours be given to rectify the technical defects in the nomination list. This would help to reduce the length of the ballot paper, thereby curtailing the cost incurred on the election process. The committee proposes that an additional nomination list including a female candidate be furnished to replace the candidates who are removed from the nomination list. The Election Commission should be vested with the authority to reject nomination papers.” The committee has also stated that the method adopted in the last LG Election held in 2018 to count the votes polled at the relevant polling station or the Divisional Secretariat office is very efficient, enabling the results to be declared expeditiously. Therefore, it has recommended that this system be continued and adopted in other elections as well. It has also recommended that an Election Tribunal be set up to inquire into election complaints and settle disputes outside the judicial system. Furthermore, protection should be granted to guarantee their impartiality. The committee recommended that the power to prosecute election offences be vested in the Election Commission. The committee, in its final report, recommended that the national list be a closed list and that only professionals, the business community, and unrepresented parties in the Legislature be given the opportunity to be appointed as national list members. The committee further recommended that the appointment of any individual to the national list should be restricted to one term and that national list members should then be given the opportunity to contest in elections after the expiry of their term. The 15-member committee, chaired by Gunawardena, met for the first time in the Parliament on 17 May 2021. Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Prof. G.L. Peiris, and Douglas Devananda, and MPs Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Wimal Weerawansa, M.U.M. Ali Sabry PC, Jeevan Thondaman, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Kabir Hashim, Ranjith Maddumabandara, Mano Ganesan, M.A. Sumanthiran PC, Madhura Withanag,e and Sagara Kariyawasam are members of it.


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