EC considers to conduct LG polls on weekday to curb expenditure

The Election Commission is considering to conduct the upcoming local government elections on a weekday, rather than on weekends in  order to curb election expenditures by saving billions of rupees being spent as Over Time (OT) allowance and other extra allowances for the state employees who would be engage in election duties.

The proposal, according to an official attached to the Commission is to ease the financial burden on the cash strapped government which is struggling to finance the total election expenditures of Rs 10 billion. " By conducting election on a weekday, we hope to minimize the election expenditure by at least half- Rs five billion," 

The Sunday Times yesterday reported that the Election Commission has requested the Attorney General to appear for it when the Supreme Court takes up two petitions calling for the conduct of the Local Government elections scheduled for March.

The request came after the EC consulted the AG on Wednesday. The AG will, however, decide on the matter only today. The elections still hang in the balance with divisions within the EC regarding the decision to call for the nominations. During consultations the EC had with Attorney General Sanjaya Rajaratnam, at least two of the Commission members said no proper consultations were held to call for nominations.