News
Executive undermining judiciary, EC, election laws, PAFFREL
By Rathindra Kuruwita
The Constitution, the Elections Commission, elections laws and the judiciary no longer had any say in holding elections, and the President now had all the power to determine whether elections are held or not, Executive Director of People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Rohana Hettiarachchi says.
“The President can say we will hold the presidential election instead of the local government elections. Or he can say, we will hold the general election first. Given that the law is blatantly ignored, anything is possible,” Hettiarachchi said.
Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake said he could not say when the elections could be held and that a decision would be taken when the government made funds available or when the Supreme Court issued a ruling asking the Commission to hold elections.
“However, the Supreme Court did issue a directive. It asked those who handle finance not to obstruct the holding of elections. However, the government has ignored this,” Hettiarachchi said.
The PAFFREL Executive Director said that although the local government election had been postponed, Sri Lanka was still technically in an election period.
“Now, there is a lot of confusion. An election was declared and later postponed. The question is whether election laws still apply to us. If election laws apply the government must curtail a number of its activities and it has to seek the approval of the Elections Commission if it is carrying out welfare or development work. The government can’t recruit, promote, punish or transfer state employees. Now, no one knows what’s going on,” he said.
Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers has been granted at their meeting held on 19.05.2025 in order to introduce amendments to the Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017 including the proposed tax revisions to enhance the tax structure paving way for state financial integrity based on revenue.
Accordingly, the revised draft bill has been prepared by the legal draftsman and clearance of the Attorney General has been received.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval for
the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Policy Planning and Economic Development to publish the aforementioned draft bill in the government gazette notification and subsequently, forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
The National Mineral Policy was prepared for the first time in the year 1999, and the aforementioned policy has been amended in 2023 to cover matters such as preparing an updated data system related to mineral resources, adding value to the export of minerals, encouraging mineral-related industrialists, extracting mineral resources and managing the environment sustainably, and resolving the issues related to the ownership of the land arising in extracting mineral resources.
The revised National Mineral Policy has been reupdated in line with the manifesto “A Sustainable Resource Utilization – Generation of the Highest Benefit” under the policy statement of the current government” A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life.”
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution presented by the Minister of Industries and
Entrepreneurship to implement the so-formulated “National Mineral Policy—2026.”
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