News
Campaign finance statements: candidates rush to meet the deadline
View(s):By Ishu Bandara
The majority of the candidates who contested the November 14 parliamentary elections have handed over their financial statements in keeping with the campaign finance laws as the deadline ended on Friday.
Of the 8,800 candidates who contested the elections, 7,846 had handed over their financial statements, with more statements due to come in through registered posts, an official said.
A last-minute rush was experienced with candidates and parties to submit their statements in keeping with the campaign finance law deadline, an election official said yesterday.Statements related to 493 parties have been received by Friday.
Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake told the Sunday Times, “We can only prepare this report and make it available for public review. If there are any issues, they can complain to the police or the EC. Since this act was introduced suddenly, we have identified some loopholes. While adjustments are being made, amendments to the act will likely be considered after two or three more elections rather than immediately,” he said.
Mr. Rathnayake said, “The act specifies a special format for submitting these reports, and, twice before the election, we explained to party secretaries the process for filing the Election Campaign Income and Expenses Report.”
The EC chief said that as with the presidential election, the police would take action against those who fail to submit their reports to the EC. Thirteen cases were filed over non-compliance after the presidential election.
“However, in practice, handling a large number of cases can be challenging, even for the police, as this is not their only responsibility,” Mr. Rathnayake said.
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