• Drops bombshell in Parliament saying LG polls not declared legally
• Alleges there is no election to be held amidst outcry from Opposition and UNP itself filing candidates to Local Government polls
• Says only Chairman and one member decided to conduct elections while others hold a different stance on polls 
• Claims he chose to comment on the EC’s claims on election funding and speak up on behalf of Treasury Secretary and others as it is unfair to them
• Tells Parliament ECSL lied when it said Treasury Secretary refused to release funds 
• Says no funds to hold elections and no elections if they even had funds as Govt. MPs roared in laughter 
• EC source maintains it acted accordingly to the law and powers vested in it and has duly called for Local Government elections

President Ranil Wickremesinghe dropped a bombshell in Parliament yesterday by claiming the Election Commission of Sri Lanka has failed to take an official and legal decision on the holding of Local Government elections and therefore there was no election to be postponed in the first place as alleged. 

Participating in the parliamentary debate on the postponement of Local Government polls yesterday, Wickremesinghe said: “The election has not been postponed. There was no election in the first place for it to be postponed.” 

The President said no fixed date for elections has been set yet as per his knowledge and therefore there is no legal decision to hold polls. 

Quoting a news article featured on the Sunday, Times Wickremesinghe noted that the decision on elections was taken by the Chairman Nimal Punchihewa and member M.M. Mohamed alone while only the mere consent of the remaining three members had been allegedly taken via Zoom. 

“This means the decision to hold polls was taken by the Chairman and M.M. Mohamed. He (Punchihewa) then says others were contacted and their consent was obtained later. If you ask the other three, this will not be their stance. I can even provide evidence for it. Then there is no official decision to hold an election,” he added.  

However, remarkably despite the President’s claims of elections not being declared legally, the United National Party (UNP) led by him had also placed cash deposits to contest the polls. 

“On 5 January, the Attorney General, the Prime Minister, and I met with the members of the Commission, not to discuss the postponement of the election, but because there was a division within the Commission. While two members had decided to hold the election on 23 December, one had not decided on a date for calling nominations, and another had a wavering view. Additionally, one of the members was in the hospital,” he noted. 

The President also took a dig at Bar Association of Sri Lanka President Saliya Peiris PC who appeared for the EC at the recent legal proceedings. Calling him an attorney who engages in party politics, Wickremesinghe said members of the Commission told him the ECSL cannot consult an attorney who engages in politics but must consult someone who is impartial.

The President said though he has no interest in politics, he has chosen to comment on the matter relating to polls due to the motion filed by the ECSL before the Supreme Court claiming funds have not been released to hold polls and therefore they have now been delayed. “I feel compelled to speak up on behalf of the Secretary to the Finance Ministry and others under me, as it is unfair to them,” he said. 

The President claimed the ECSL statement noting that the Treasury Secretary informed the Commission he was unable to provide the necessary funds is false. He said instead it was he who first informed the commission on 14 December of the economic situation and requested the ECSL to hold polls only after the number of councillors are reduced to 5000. 

Calling the Commission a ‘caretaker commission’ following the passage of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, the President said its members are answerable to the Parliament. He therefore blamed the Commission for failing to discuss the matter of elections with Parliament. “There are no funds to hold an election and even if we had funds there is no election,” he said as MPs of the Government roared in laughter along with him. 

Defending the State officials who failed to provide funds or support the ECSL in holding polls, the President said as elections have not been declared in a legal manner, if the requested money had been given, he would have been forced to remove the Treasury Secretary and make a complaint before the Police against him. “The same will happen to the Government Printer too. They all will lose their jobs,” he said.  

However, despite the serious allegations levelled by the country’s Head of State, sources from the ECSL insisted that the Commission acted within the law and called for elections duly according to the powers vested in it. 

The source said the EC will not be making an official statement on the matter as it is unable to respond to statements made against it under the cover of parliamentary privilege. “If any statements are made outside Parliament we will respond to it,” the source said. 

SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday said President Ranil Wickremesinghe was talking nonsense pertaining to the Local Government polls when his own party had submitted paid nominations. 

Making a special statement, MP Premadasa said that the President was acting in an arrogant manner by stating there is no election.

He further questioned how the United National Party (UNP) headed by the President had handover nominations, if there was no election as claimed by the President.

SC defers hearing of petition calling for postponement of polls