SLMC warns it is ready to go to court

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has warned that it is ready to go to court to challenge the electoral system if electoral proposals are gazetted in their current form.

SLMC leader and Government Minister Rauff Hakeem said that the SLMC and other minority and minor parties want more amendments to the proposals.

The Cabinet on Friday approved proposals to increase the number of seats in Parliament to 237 from the current 225 under the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

Hakeem however said that minority and minor parties in Cabinet had also proposed that a twin ballot paper system be introduced where the voter could vote for his or her political party and candidate separately.

The SLMC leader said that the proposal had not been included in the 20th Amendment which was approved by Cabinet on Friday.

He said that President Maithripala Sirisena had assured the minor and minority parties that their concerns would be discussed separately before the final document on electoral reforms was gazetted.

Hakeem however said that if the 20th Amendment to the constitution was submitted to Parliament before that discussion took place then the SLMC would seek support to vote against it.

He said that the 20th Amendment to the Constitution cannot be formulated to meet the needs of the two main political parties in Parliament, namely the UNP and SLFP.

The Minister also noted that the UNP had objected to the number of seats proposed to be included in Parliament via the new electoral system. (Colombo Gazette)