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By Sandun Jayawardana  

The matter was repeatedly brought up during a two-day adjournment debate on “Franchise” moved by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and often led to heated exchanges in the House.  

The president and the government are both trying to wrest the people’s democratic right from them, accused SJB’s Ranjith Madduma Bandara as he moved the adjournment debate for the opposition on Thursday (9). He listed a series of instances which he alleged were attempts by President Wickremesinghe and his government to prevent the Election Commission (EC) from going ahead with the poll. These included appointing a Delimitation Commission to reduce the number of members in local councils, claiming there was no money to hold the election, instructing District Returning Officers not to accept deposits for the election and issuing circulars to government officials not to accept work on credit.

“Governments and political parties that tried to put off elections have learned bitter lessons throughout history,” warned the SJB General Secretary.

He alleged that the Treasury Secretary was not releasing funds requested by the EC even after the Supreme Court’s interim order prohibiting him from withholding funds earmarked for the election. If the government continues to withhold these funds, the SJB will go before the Supreme Court to hold the Treasury Secretary in contempt, he added.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is also asking that this election be held, countered SLPP Kalutara District MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena. Nevertheless, there must be a conducive environment in which to hold a free and fair election, he further stressed.

Mr Abeygunawardena noted that it took the then opposition three years of struggle to force the local government election to be held in 2018. “However, back then, there was no economic problem. There was no terror in the form of houses being burned down and people being killed. We demanded the election within a democratic framework. Can democracy be safeguarded by anti-democratic means?” he queried.

Rs. 10 billion was allocated by the 2023 Budget to the local government election. If the argument that there is no money to hold the poll is accepted, there is nothing to stop the government from claiming there are no funds for the parliamentary election or the presidential election, warned Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa.

He alleged that the government conspired to keep out Dr. Harsha De Silva from becoming Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance because the government knew that he had plans to summon the Treasury Secretary and other senior officials and ask them to explain why funds allocated for the election through the Budget were not being released.

“It is an inalienable Constitutional duty of all of us to provide the funds and to conduct the election. The move to not hold the election even when Parliament has allocated funds for it is also a blow to Parliament’s sovereignty,” the Opposition Leader stressed.

“Eight months ago, we could not provide electricity, fuel and gas. We couldn’t control the skyrocketing prices of essential goods. Now however, we can provide electricity 24 hours a day, along with fuel and gas. At a time when the country is returning to normalcy, we would like to ask whether these protests you are doing are justified,” SLPP Kandy District MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage asked the opposition.

He claimed only about 0.02% of the population is taking part in these protests. “If you check the television, you can say that it is the same people you see at each protest. They are talking about democracy. We need a country for democracy to survive,” Mr Aluthgamage added.

Elections are held because the Constitution mandates that they must be held after a certain time period has elapsed, National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake pointed out. He also said government politicians are lying when they say that the people aren’t calling for an election.

Mr Dissanayake questioned where things may lead if the contention that the election cannot be held because there were no funds was accepted. “We have the presidential election also coming up. What happens if Ranil Wickremesinghe, as Finance Minister, empties the Treasury and then asks if he can stay on as President since there is no money to hold the election?”

What the government lacks is not funds but votes, Mr Dissanayake alleged. “This fear is not about the election but about the result of that election.”

“It is our firm belief that a country’s economy collapses not due to holding of elections but due to the failure to hold them,” said SLPP MP and member of the Freedom People’s Alliance (FPA) Prof. G.L. Peiris. A country that does not hold elections as scheduled cannot be described as a functioning democracy, he added.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara detailed difficulties he said the government had in providing certain facilities for the election. Some 80, 000 candidates are contesting the election and many of them have asked that their weekly fuel quota be increased for campaign purposes. “You get 5 litres of fuel for a motorbike a week. The candidates are asking if that can be given on a daily basis. I too believe that we need to increase the fuel quota for candidates to have a free and fair election, but how can we give 5 litres of fuel a day to 80, 000 people at this time?”

If the EC wants more generators for election purposes, then it must also pay the CEB for the fuel cost of those generators, he further said.

The priority should be to restore the country’s economy, insisted the minister. “During the past few months, we have taken extremely difficult decisions, which were correct, to restore our economy. These decisions are now bearing fruit. If the country’ economy recovers however, the opposition would lose most of the slogans it has so far rallied around,” Minister Wijesekara claimed.

Parliament will reconvene on March 21.