LG Polls funding: Treasury to abide by Court order
( The Morning 5- 03- 2023)
Following the interim order issued by the Supreme Court on Friday (3) preventing the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance from withholding the funds allocated through the 2023 Budget for the Local Government (LG) Polls, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said the ministry would respect and act according to the decision.
“We should abide by the court decision. It is our responsibility. Therefore, as the Finance Ministry, we respect the decision and will act accordingly,” the State Minister told the media.
These interim orders were issued to the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, who was named as a respondent in the relevant petition, and the Attorney General, who was named on behalf of the President.
The order was given by the three-member Supreme Court bench comprising Judges Preethi Padman Surasena, Janak de Silva, and Priyantha Fernando, allowing the consideration of a Fundamental Rights petition filed by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara.
The bench ordered the parties to file the objections and counter objections related to the petition in accordance with the Supreme Court rules and ordered that the hearing of the petition would be held on 26 May.
The court also issued another interim order preventing the retention of funds allocated to the Department of Government Printing for the purpose of printing ballot papers.
In the meantime, the Election Commission of Sri Lanka has decided to convene a special meeting on Tuesday (7) in order to reach a conclusive date on which the 2023 polls will be held.
Accordingly, all relevant officials including the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, the Government Printer, and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) have been informed to attend the meeting, following an order issued by the Supreme Court instructing that a date for the election be announced before 9 March – the date on which the polls were initially scheduled to be held.
Last month, President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament that the LG Elections had not been declared legally and therefore there was no question of a postponement.
His controversial statement drew strong criticism from the Opposition and civil society groups, who alleged that the Government was attempting to postpone the Local Government Elections for political gain.
Conduct LG polls soon respecting SC verdict: Lawyers for NPP
Lawyers for National People’s Power (NPP) today urged the political authority and the relevant officials to make arrangements to conduct the Local Government Election by respecting the verdict of the Supreme Court with regard to the LG polls.
Attorney-at-Law Sunil Watagala told a news conference that the Elections Commission has been made a respondent in the case and that if the Elections Commission was taking the side of the people, it should fix an early date for the election.
He said if the verdict of the Supreme Court was disregarded, all the responsible officials would have to pay the penalty for contempt of court.
He said according to the interim order issued by the Supreme Court, Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Finance Minister and the Cabinet have to release the Rs. 10 billion allocated for the LG polls through the 2023 budget.
Watagala said the state officials including Treasury Secretary, the Attorney General and IGP also have to abide by the interim order. (Ajith Siriwardana)
Local council polls delay leaves more than 3,000 public servants jobless.
(Sunday Times 5- 03 -2023)
The Election Commission (EC) is unable to offer relief to more than 3000 public servants contesting the local council elections and who are now in severe financial distress owing to uncertainty over the polls date.
In line with the election law, the employees have taken no-pay leave from their workplaces to contest the upcoming election as candidates. With the EC no longer able to hold the election as scheduled on March 9, many of these candidates are facing a difficult situation as they are prohibited from returning to their jobs given that the election process is ongoing.
The EC could not provide any relief to these candidates given that while the elections could not be held as scheduled on March 9, the electoral process had not stopped, Commission Chairman Nimal Punchihewa told the Sunday Times.
If the Supreme Court had issued an order restraining the EC from conducting the elections, the Commission could recommend to the Public Administration Ministry to submit a Cabinet proposal to pay the basic salaries of these employees. But the Court has not issued any such order and has asked the EC to continue with the elections. Therefore, the Commission could not make such a recommendation, the EC chief said.
A senior Public Administration Ministry official said the ministry could not legally accommodate requests from any state employee contesting the elections to be allowed to return to work until they received official communication from the EC that the election had either been put off or concluded. “Since the electoral process is ongoing, there is nothing anyone can do,” the official said.
The inability to hold the election on March 9 has also posed a headache to the Commission with regard to the ceiling it has imposed on candidates to spend on each voter.
The EC had earlier calculated the maximum amount a candidate could spend over a 49-day campaign period.
Since the EC is now set to announce a new poll date, candidates would ask for the spending limit to be raised given that the campaign period would also be extended, an EC source said.
Meanwhile, the EC will meet Finance Ministry officials and the Government Printer next week to ask them when funds can be released for the elections and when printing work related to the elections can be concluded.
Mr. Punchihewa said once these government agencies explained their position to the EC, the Commission would announce a fresh date for the elections.
The EC chairman expressed confidence that a new date for the poll could be announced before March 9.