News

‘Low’ voter turnout linked to mass emigration – PAFFREL

Published

2 years ago

2024/09/28

Thilina Walpola

Rohana Hettiarachchi

By Rathindra Kuruwita

A large number of Sri Lankans left the country between 2019 and 2024, which was one of the main reasons for the lower voter turnout in the 21 September Presidential Election compared to 2019, Rohana Hettiarachchi, Executive Director of the People’s Action for Free & Fair Elections (PAFFREL), told The Island yesterday.

Commenting on the low voter turnout, Hettiarachchi said that almost 80% eligible voters had exercised their franchise, compared to approximately 81 percent in the 2015 presidential election, and 74.5% in 2010.

“The voter turnout on 21 September wasn’t low; it’s actually a good percentage. We must remember that around 15 percent of the individuals on the voters’ list are no longer in the country. Additionally, another 500,000 to a million people couldn’t reach polling stations due to various obstacles, including not being granted leave from work. In 2019, about 83 percent voted, but since then, many people have left the country,” he explained.

Discussing the upcoming 14 November general election, Hettiarachchi noted that around 3,000 candidates would contest, compared to approximately 80,000 candidates who contested the local government elections.

He further highlighted that presidential candidates were permitted to spend 109 rupees per voter on election propaganda, while candidates for the 2023 local council elections were authorised to spend 20 rupees per voter.

“I believe candidates in the General Election will be allowed to spend an amount somewhere between these two figures. After the nomination period ends, political party representatives will be summoned to the Election Secretariat within five days to finalise the spending limit per voter during the campaign. We’ve already consulted relevant state entities and election stakeholders, and after considering all inputs, the Election Commission will set spending limits for candidates,” Hettiarachchi elaborated.

He also mentioned that candidates are required to submit their expenditure reports within 21 days of the election. The Election Commission must then make these reports public within 10 days, after which the public can lodge complaints regarding candidate spending.

“Soon, candidates for the presidential election will have to submit their expenditure reports. I expect some candidates to submit reports claiming they haven’t spent any money—these are the so-called ‘dummy candidates’,” he said.

He warned that if the Election Commission does not take steps to address the issue of dummy candidates, their numbers will increase in the future. He noted that there had been a recent proposal to raise the electoral deposits candidates must place when contesting elections.

The proposal suggested that candidates from registered parties contesting the Presidential Election should deposit 2.4 million rupees, up from the current 50,000 rupees. Independent candidates would be required to pay 3.1 million rupees, instead of the current 75,000 rupees.

“I understand there are candidates who receive very few votes, but they are not dummy candidates. These are serious individuals who want to promote their political message. We need to consider such people before drastically increasing the deposits,” he said.

Hettiarachchi also revealed that PAFFREL had identified several polling stations with issues related to accessibility and inadequate facilities. In areas like Nuwara Eliya, many polling stations are set up in places such as tea factories, which have minimal infrastructure.

“We are planning to conduct a study on the facilities available at these polling stations. We want to identify polling centres with very limited facilities and assess whether there are alternative buildings that could be used. Sometimes the Election Commission is forced to use certain buildings because they are the only available structures in the area,” he noted.

In some countries, temporary polling centres are established in easily accessible locations, allowing even the elderly and disabled to vote without difficulty, Hettiarachchi said. “In Sri Lanka, some polling stations are located on small mountains. However, the Election Commission is very mindful of these challenges and is doing its best to address them,” he added.

Hettiarachchi pointed out that, given Sri Lanka’s progress in eliminating voter fraud, the practice of marking voters’ fingers with ink is no longer necessary. This practice was introduced before a valid identity card was required for voting.

“Before 2006, presenting your ID was not mandatory. Now, you cannot vote without a valid identity card, yet we still mark voters’ fingers, mainly as a tradition. Several other countries that mandate identity cards for voting continue this practice. However, it’s worth noting that the Election Commission spends a significant amount of money on this ink,” he concluded.

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News

Lanka enters new phase of prosecutions as hurdles clear

Published

9 hours ago

2026/10/4

Thilina Walpola

MONETABRIEF –The prosecution of high-profile individuals from the former Rajapaksa administrations is set to escalate this month with the clearing of legal hurdles and administrative bottlenecks, according to officials involved in the process.

Former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s attempt to secure an order preventing his arrest in connection with the Easter Sunday massacre was turned down by the Court of Appeal on Thursday.

An overseas travel ban has been in operation against Rajapaksa since June, but the Criminal Investigations Department made no move to question him. He instead filed a writ application seeking an order preventing his possible arrest.

President of the Court of Appeal Rohantha Abeysuriya noted that the court would not interfere with the investigative process. Any attempt by the court would amount to an obstruction of the investigation.

In an unrelated case, the same court rejected an application by opposition legislator Dilith Jayaweera seeking the quashing of a contempt charge filed against him by the Fort magistrate. The charges against Jayaweera and a few other opposition politicians are expected to be taken up in the coming week.

Jayaweera and other opposition politicians — Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, Sugeeshwara Bandara, and Asanka Navaratne

— were hauled up over their remarks relating to the arrest of Suresh Sallay, the former head of the State Intelligence Service.

SLPP academic Mahinda Pathirana is also charged over his public comments about Sallay’s arrest in February under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son, legislator Namal Rajapaksa, is already in remand custody following his arrest in connection with three cases of bribery and money laundering relating to the 2013 Airbus deal and the Krrish property development in Colombo.

Although Namal has been granted bail in the Airbus money laundering charge, he is in custody until October 13 over the bribery charge relating to the same Airbus transaction. His arrest is under a provision of the Anti-Corruption Act that does not allow a magistrate to grant bail unless under exceptional circumstances.

Meanwhile, his mother Shiranthi Rajapaksa, who had been asked to report to the Financial Crimes Investigations Division on September 24, was a no-show and was yet to return from Singapore.

She had travelled overseas on September 16, and a family spokesman said she was handed the FCID summons at the departure lounge of Bandaranaike International Airport just before she boarded a flight to Singapore.

At the time, the family spokesman said she was due to return in three days.

“We will see greater momentum in the legacy cases in the coming weeks,” an official involved in the prosecutions said.

“We have cleared the legal hurdles to press ahead with more arrests,” he said.

“We are working on a few administrative issues which will be resolved very soon.”

The controversial prosecution of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe is dragging on without him being formally indicted since his arrest in August last year. The Fort magistrate has listed the case again for November 11, when the Attorney-General is expected to report on his decision regarding action against Wickremesinghe.

News

Police warn: Court evaders face property seizure

Published

9 hours ago

2026/10/4

Thilina Walpola

Police have reminded the public that courts have the power to take legal action against individuals who evade arrest or remain in hiding after warrants have been issued against them.

Police said that under Section 60 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979, a court could issue a written proclamation requiring a person evading arrest under a warrant to appear at a specified place and time.

The proclamation must allow the person at least 30 days to appear before court, Police said.

If the person fails to appear even after the proclamation has been issued, the court may take further action under Section 61 of the Act.

This includes issuing an order for the attachment of the movable or immovable property belonging to the person concerned.Police issued the reminder highlighting the legal measures available against persons who deliberately evade arrest and remain in hiding after warrants have been issued.

News

Nearly 20 Iranian tankers stranded off Lanka amid US sanctions

Published

9 hours ago

2026/10/4

Thilina Walpola

Around 20 Iranian oil tankers are reportedly stranded about 15 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southwestern coast, with several vessels facing shortages of food, fuel and fresh water amid tightening US sanctions and maritime restrictions, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the report published on Thursday (1), US officials have in recent weeks urged Sri Lanka to prevent local vessels from supplying essential provisions to the tankers and their crews.

The report, citing Sri Lankan Government documents and companies involved in supplying the vessels, said the US had raised concerns over assistance being provided to the sanctioned tankers.

The situation follows the United States’ decision to reimpose a maritime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in July, which has reportedly left dozens of Iranian and Iran-linked tankers involved in transporting sanctioned oil to China stranded near Asian countries, including Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Most of the vessels are reportedly empty tankers that had previously transported Iranian crude to Asia, often through ship-to-ship transfers, before preparing to return to Iran for additional cargo.

The WSJ reported that the US Embassy had warned Sri Lanka in August that it was monitoring 19 Iranian tankers off the country’s western coast and had raised the possibility of secondary sanctions against companies providing services to sanctioned vessels.

Sri Lankan authorities have maintained that the vessels are located outside the country’s 12-nautical-mile territorial waters and that the Government is not providing them with logistical assistance.

Meanwhile, shipping companies told the WSJ that obtaining approval to supply essential items, including food, drinking water and fuel, as well as repair services, to the Iranian vessels had become increasingly difficult.

Separately, Reuters reported in late August that 27 sanctioned Iran-linked tankers were waiting off Sri Lanka without cargo.

The Trump administration has also imposed additional sanctions on Iran and warned countries and companies trading with Tehran of potential consequences, as Washington seeks to pressure Iran to make concessions amid the ongoing conflict.

Similar concentrations of Iranian-linked tankers have been reported off Malaysia, where waters have historically been used for ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian crude destined mainly for China.