By Rathindra Kuruwita

It was ironic to see President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had done everything in his power to postpone provincial council polls indefinitely, pledging to strengthen the same councils, in his policy statement presented to Parliament on 07 January, Executive Director of People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), Rohana Hettiarachchi told The Island yesterday (09).

In the policy statement, President Wickremesinghe said “efforts are underway to bolster the economies of all nine provinces, with delegated powers related to sectors like vocational education and agriculture given to provincial councils under the third list of provincial council powers in the Constitution. This decentralization aims to accelerate economic growth in each province, fostering healthy economic competition among them.”

Hettiarachchi said that a few days earlier the Cabinet-of-Ministers agreed to allocate 10 billion rupees for both the presidential and general elections. The Cabinet also said “those provisions have to be managed for covering the expenditure of the presidential election and general election.

“So the government decides on when to hold elections and sets the financial parameters that they should be held. Deciding on when to hold elections is not the responsibility of the executive.”

Hettiarachchi said that putting a cap on expenses for holding an election has several negative impacts. The Elections Commission is entrusted with holding free and fair elections and this endeavour is a costly one.

“The Commission needs adequate staff; they have to train a large number of people; the Commission needs the support of the police and that alone costs a few billion rupees. The Commission also pays a lot of money to the Ceylon Electricity Board, the postal department and the government printer. So, out of that 10 billion allocation, a significant amount of money goes back to various government institutions.”

Hettiarachchi said Artificial Intelligence could be used in the coming elections for political campaigns. Social media will be rife with misinformation, misinterpretations and fake news.

“The Elections Commission will need to invest in new technologies, and they will need the services of many experts. Also, don’t forget that the next election would be held under a campaign finance law. The Commission needs to establish a monitoring mechanism for this and that will also entail additional expenditure. What will happen if the Elections Commission has to cut down on the above mentioned expenses?” he asked.

Hettiarachchi said that the Cabinet decision also shows that the government has no plans to hold provincial or local council elections in 2024. Those are two elections that should be held before the presidential or general elections.

“If those in power care about the people’s franchise they should have held the local council election in 2023. They should have held provincial council elections in 2017.”

Hettiarachchi said that an amendment to the laws that govern provincial councils, brought during the Yahapalana administration, is a reason why the country has not been able to hold provincial council elections. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister of that government, too.

“Now the powers of the provincial councils are wielded by the governor who is appointed by the President. This is why the promise to increase the powers of provincial councils, made during the policy statement on Wednesday, is absurd.”

Hettiarachchi said the Elections Commission is already taking necessary steps to hold any election in 2024. The voter registry is already being updated.

“Police and other state institutions must support the Elections Commission during an election. This is in the Constitution. Not extending the necessary assistance to the Commission is a punishable act. Even the President is bound by the constitution to support the Elections Commission.”

The PAFFREL Executive Director said that recently he came across two interesting circulars. One was issued on 24 January 2024 by the Presidential Secretariat. There is another issued on 29 December 2023 by the Finance Ministry. Both are institutions under President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

“The circular in December says that projects approved by the 2024 Budget must be completed by 31 July 2024. The one in January is about an initiative called ‘Kandukara Dashakaya,’ which is a 10-year plan on rural development. It also says that all initiatives, under this programme for 2024, must be completed by 31 July 2024. I have never seen such circulars before. What is going on here? On one hand, it’s an indication that the government is getting ready for an election. The other is that, if the presidential election is to be held before 17 October, the electoral process must start in July. It’s obvious that the government is trying to finish these projects by July end to get an advantage,” he said.