UNP to complain to EC over alleged election law violations

Wednesday, 1 October 2014 02:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

United National Party (UNP) Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya said yesterday the Opposition will complain to Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya today on the alleged election law violations committed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) even before a presidential election had been declared. He told a media conference that eight prominent Government officials and 62 chairmen of Government institutions had participated in the opening of the SLFP election propaganda office at Barnes Place in Colombo on 25 September in view of the upcoming presidential election.

“This is a blatant election law violation. Public servants have no right to engage in party politics. Ministry secretaries, chairmen of commissions and even the Central Bank governor were among the participants,” Jayasuriya told the news conference at Sirikotha. He said the upcoming presidential election would not be held in a free and fair manner because the UPFA Government had already decided to deploy the entire state sector in its campaign for the election. “Mr. Deshapriya had on an earlier occasion said he would not allow Government servants to engage in election campaigning when the Defence Secretary had addressed an election meeting in favour of a western provincial councillor. That is why we decided to complain about the presence of several Government servants at the opening of the SLFP election office,” he said. Jayasuriya requested the President to play by the rules and provide a level playing field for the candidates contesting the presidency. He said laws and regulations were applied differently depending on whether the offender was a Government or opposition politician. “A case in point is the recent arrest of UNP MP Palitha Range Bandara on assault charges while those who assaulted the Bandarawela mayor inside the police station are still roaming free,” Jayasuriya said. He said the UNP had also begun its campaign aiming at future elections and said no matter how much the Government used or misused its power it would finally have to bow down to the will of the people. “We also studied Constitutional amendments and obtained the opinion of prominent lawyers and Chief Justices and we strongly believe that President Rajapaksa has no legal or moral right to contest for a third term as President. Therefore we will have to contest at an illegal presidential election,” he said.