Local Government Elections indefinitely postponed?

(Ceylon Today 18th Feb 2023)

The Ministry of Finance has failed to provide the National Election Commission with the funds needed for the Local Government (LG) election, People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said last Sunday.

He said the Minister of Finance and the Secretary to the Finance Ministry are constitutionally obligated to provide the funds and that if this does not happen, legal action will be instituted against the competent authority.

Speaking to the media, Hettiarachchi said they had been informed that the Ministry of Finance had failed to release the funds, which was regrettable.

“If the Finance Minister and the Ministry Secretary do not release the funds, we are considering legal action against them,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission said 37,000 postal vote applications, for the 2023 Local Government elections, were rejected.

A total of 673,873 State employees were eligible for postal voting in 2023.

The packets containing postal ballots were scheduled to arrive at the post office on 15 February and the National Election Commission has stated that the official ballot papers would arrive at the post office on 19 February.

This year, nearly 200,000 State employees were expected to be employed for election duties. The postal voting for the Local Government election was scheduled for 22, 23 and 24 February.

However, on Tuesday, 14 February, the Election Commission announced that the Government Printer has refused to print ballot papers for postal voting until due payments were made thus, postponing the Local Government Elections indefinitely.

This recent development raised concerns whether the LG Poll, which was scheduled to be held on 9 March, too will have to be postponed.

Election Commissioner General Saman Sri Ratnayake, in a statement, said the decision to postpone postal voting was made as ballot papers for postal voting were not available due to reasons beyond the control of the commission.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, EC Chairman Nimal Punchihewa said if the Department of Government Printing fails to complete printing of ballot papers, the commission will have to take a final decision on holding the LG Poll.

The EC Chairman said the Government Printer has to abide by the recent circular issued by the Finance Ministry to limit expenditure. However, a stock of ballot papers has already been printed. If the printing of ballot papers can be completed within the next few days, they will be distributed immediately and postal voting will take place as scheduled, he added.

Government Printer Gangani Liyanage refused to print ballot papers for postal voting until the due payments are made.

She said at least 20 -25 days were required to complete printing ballot papers for the upcoming Local Government (LG) Election.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, she said for the printing process to run smoothly, the Department of Government Printing must be excluded from the Circular issued by the Finance Ministry prohibiting State institutions to make purchases on credit basis.

If that is not the case, then the Election Commission (EC) should provide the funds without any delay and provide security to continue printing the ballot papers, she said.

Meanwhile, the EC has sent another letter to the Treasury requesting to release funds for the LG Poll.

On the other hand, Election Commissioner General Saman Sri Rathnayake officially announced on Friday (17) that postal voting for the 2023 Local Government Election was postponed until further notice.

Similarly, the Treasury which so far did not clearly maintain their stance on releasing funds for the elections also officially announced its reluctance.

Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana informed the National Election Commission of the difficulties in funding polls, during a meeting held on Friday (17) between the Election Commission and Finance Ministry officials on funding elections.

The Treasury Secretary has cited the current adverse financial situation and the administrative decision taken by the government to allocate funds only for essential services as the reasons for the inability to release the funds required for the election.

Earlier this month, President Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policy, instructed the Treasury Secretary to provide funds only for essential public services.

Accordingly, the list of expenditures to be funded includes salaries, debt servicing, pensions, medical supplies for hospitals, subsidies for low-income groups, scholarships, farmers’ pensions, school nutrition programmes, payments for war heroes and disabled soldiers, utility payments, food supplies for hospitals and prisons, and others.

Finance Ministry officials, during Friday’s meeting, have pointed out that the permission of President Wickremesinghe, needs to be obtained in order to release funds to public institutions that are not listed under the ‘essential services’ category.

As it is, the LG polls may get pushed back by at least eight months and would not be held until November this year.