The Church of Ceylon has said it is deeply concerned with the deteriorating situation in the country with regard to governance and the erosion of public confidence in the democratic process.

The Church of Ceylong has, in a media statement, said: “We are all aware that the country was rendered bankrupt due to policy blunders, corruption, waste and mismanagement by those who were entrusted the task of governing the country. The people have now been burdened with very painful economic measures which could have been averted if the right thing was done at the right time,” the Church of Ceylon said in a press statement.

The Church added that the vast majority of Sri Lankans are intelligent and hardworking people and they are now facing hardships due to the negligence and arrogance of a select group of politicians and public officials.

Full text of the statement:

“The decision by the government to withhold funding for the Local Government Election is an unreasonable and arbitrary course of action which will have far-reaching consequences. The government, which sponsored a tamasha at state expense, on account of Independence Day, nearly a fortnight ago has no moral right to withhold funding of an election. It has been nearly a

year since the government announced its decision to default on external creditors. Any government, which claims that it is unable to fund an election, even after defaulting on its obligations to the outside world, has no legitimate authority to continue in office. We call on the government to take immediate measures to provide the resources to the Election Commission, and other state agencies, to hold free and fair elections, as provided for in the Budget that was passed by Parliament.

“The hallmark of any democracy is the opportunity it affords citizens to choose their own elected representatives at the due time. Denying that opportunity to our people will only affirm the fact that we are now under a dictatorship. Deploying thousands of police officers to disperse demonstrations, with water cannons and tear gas, is simply not the solution. Any government in power, which remains blind to the ground realities, will not be able to command support from any quarter to steer the country out of this economic mess. The country needs unity and democracy to face the political and economic challenges ahead.