• Calls on Govt. to hold LG elections on time
• Says President, Govt. or Parliament cannot be allowed to postpone elections according to their whims and fancies 
• Claims there is now a tradition of postponing polls by presenting various excuses
• Warns Govt. the people will take to the streets if their sovereign rights are violated 

Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Eran Wickramaratne yesterday called on the Government to hold Local Government polls on time without depriving the people of their right to franchise. 

The MP made these comments at a press conference held at the Opposition Leader’s office in Colombo. 

The MP noted that the SJB also took steps to adopt a resolution at its party’s annual convention held over the weekend that elections should be held on time as it is the sovereign right of the people. 

“The President, the Government or the Parliament cannot be allowed to change or postpone the holding of elections as they want. The Executive, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Parliament together have made it a tradition of postponing the elections by taking away the basic rights of the people by way of expressing various excuses,” he said. 

“The Local Government elections, which have already been postponed by a year, must be held at the beginning of 2023 and people should be allowed to elect their representatives. This is a problem with regard to people’s sovereignty. A Government that respects democracy cannot go beyond the principle of people’s sovereignty,” he added. Wickramaratne said that the SJB is urging the Government to hold elections in a proper manner. 

“The Government, cabinet or parliament cannot be allowed to violate it,” he said. 

Explaining facts about a decision given by the Supreme Court in 2017 on a petition regarding the postponement of the elections Wickramaratne noted that when an election is due, the court was of the opinion that the Election Commission should conduct the elections according to the law prevailing at that time. 

“It was also stated that there is no room in the law to delay the election and that it is the responsibility of the election officials to hold elections immediately before the end of the tenure of the Local Government bodies. The court rejected the submissions in 2017 that elections cannot be held until the decision of the Delimitation Committee is finalised,” he noted. 

The MP pointed out that the Supreme Court ruled that the Government had violated the fundamental rights of the petitioners against the postponement of the Local Government elections in 2017, and ordered the Government to take immediate steps to hold the elections. 

“This should be an eye-opener to the President and the Government. In 2017, LG elections were postponed when the present President was the Prime Minister. The President must not repeat the same mistake twice,” he said. 

Wickramaratne also accused the Government of appointing a national delimitation committee ostensibly to reduce the number of members elected to Local Government bodies and has created a debate about whether it is appropriate to hold an election when the economy is in crisis. 

“The Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen has said that economic stability cannot be established in a country without establishing first the political stability. Therefore it is not a time to postpone elections but to hold elections to establish political stability when the country is suffering without a legitimate Government in power. According to the current scenario of the country, a situation has arisen where the people cannot trust the leaders who come to power,” the MP noted. 

Wickramaratne warned that the people will agitate to bring down this Government if it does not honour the sovereign rights of the people.

Opposition MPs file two writ petitions seeking order to hold LG election