Legal action can be instituted against Ranil over his campaign expenses report: IRES

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Legal action could be instituted against former President Ranil Wickremesinghe over his presidential election expenses report, Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) Manjula Gajanayake said yesterday (05).

Gajanayake noted that former President Wickremesinghe’s campaign finance report for the 21 September 2024 presidential election contained only two pages although nearly one billion rupees was spent on his election campaign.

“He officially spent over Rs 990 million, making this the second-highest amount spent by a candidate on the election,” he said.

Gajanayake said Wickremesinghe had been nominated for the presidential election by his brother Channa, who is also required to submit an expenses report to the Election Commission (EC).

“According to the campaign finance laws, the candidates and the general secretaries of the political parties or the persons who nominat them must submit detailed campaign expense reports. Channa Wickremesinghe has not submitted a report at all. The former President’s report includes categories of expenses and amounts spent, but campaign finance laws clearly require that all expenses be itemised with sources of funding mentioned. If the Election Commission should take this seriously; it can notify the police, who could seek the advice of the Attorney General to file a case,” he said.

The IRES Executive Director added that Wickremesinghe’s casual approach to election laws reflected his disregard for legal and financial accountability.

Earlier, Commissioner General of Elections, Saman Sri Ratnayake said candidates who failed to submit their campaign expense reports reports or attempt to mislead the Commission in their filings could face fines or imprisonment. Additionally, a candidate may lose their civic rights for a period of three years.