Elections Commission must be empowered to decide election calendar: PAFFREL

By Skandha Gunasekara

The People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) yesterday asserted that the independent Elections Commission must have the freedom to decide when elections should be conducted.

PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi, responding to a question raised by a journalist at the end of the two-day Asia Electoral Stakeholder Forum in Colombo yesterday, said that the Elections Commission should be empowered to decide on an election calendar without allowing the Government to dictate when elections are to be conducted.

“When we look back at the past 10 years, it is obvious that all the successive rulers conducted elections when the atmosphere was most advantageous to them. The former government was in the habit of holding the elections under several stages while this government seems to be delaying the elections. Consolidating power is their priority. This is the bitter truth. That is why we stress that the Election Commission must be given the power to decide on the election dates,” he remarked.

 The forum, organised by the Elections Commission of Sri Lanka and the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), provided a stage to share experiences and best practices pertaining to election transparency and sound democracy.

Around 300 individuals from 45 countries participated in the forum and at the end of the two-day event adopted the Colombo Pledge to promote and safeguard electoral democracy in Asia.

Furthermore, Hettiarachchi, who is also the General Secretary of the ANFREL, pointed out that despite all relevant parties coming to a consensus on the need to provide voting rights to Sri Lankan expatriates, the endeavour would face practical issues in implementing the proposal.  At present there are over two million Lankan expat workers around the globe.

 “Many of our expat workers are in Middle Eastern countries and it is questionable as to how many of them can come to the Sri Lankan Embassy to exercise their franchise. Besides, how can we ensure the freedom of the voter? We have to gradually develop a system where we can address these issues and allow expat workers to vote freely,” he noted.