By Rathindra Kuruwita

The senior DIG in charge of elections can work with the Election Commission to ensure the conduct of a smooth presidential poll despite the deliberate dragging of feet by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in appointing an acting IGP, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran said on Wednesday.

“Clearly he is trying to stall the process. He is not happy with the Supreme Court interim order barring Deshabandu Tennakoon from holding the post of IGP. However, he has to carry out his constitutional duties as the President,” the TNA MP said.

Sumanthiran said he had spoken to President Wickremesinghe about the appointment of an acting IGP, and the president had said he was worried about a possible election petition against him if such an appointment was made.

“I don’t see how an election petition can succeed on this basis. I said if he was actually worried about an election petition, he could ask the Speaker to summon a party leaders meeting and have the party leaders jointly nominate someone. Then, he can merely forward that name to the constitutional council,” Sumanthiran said.

The TNA MP criticised the stance taken by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena that the latter would not accept the Supreme Court order. The Prime Minister knows that he is in the wrong and would never make such a statement outside Parliament, Sumanthiran said.

“He said the position of the IGP is not vacant. That may be so. For example, let’s say the IGP suffered a stroke and could not even sign a document. Wouldn’t the President appoint an acting IGP? When Pujith Jayasundara, the former IGP, was arrested, an acting IGP was appointed. This is not a new thing, when the incumbent in office can’t carry out his or her duties, someone else is appointed to act on his or her behalf,” he said.

Sumanthiran said despite the President dragging his feet, delaying the appointment of an acting IGP would not have any impact on the election. The EC had to deal with the police to ensure a peaceful election. However, this can be done by working with the SDIG in charge of elections, the TNA MP said.

“The Constitutional Council is a check on the Executive and its decisions are subject to Supreme Court review. There is no reason to split hairs about whether the Constitutional Council is a part of the Executive or the Legislature,” he said.

The TNA MP said that the government was desperate to stall the appointment of an acting IGP. He added that the 21 September election could not be stalled by such tactics.

Sumanthiran also criticised the Presidential Media Divisions (PMD) for using state resources to campaign for President Wickremesinghe. “The President is using state resources for propaganda work. But he is apparently worried about appointing an acting IGP because he is a presidential candidate. There is a huge contradiction there,” Sumanthiran said.

The 13th Amendment would not fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil people because it had no meaningful devolution built into it. There were many features that needed to be put right, Sumanthiran said.

He also said that the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) believed that nominating a common Tamil presidential candidate was a bad idea. “We think we must talk to the main candidate. We have already spoken to two candidates and we will continue with that. We will decide at the end who we will support,” he said.

“When a presidential election comes, each person makes a decision based on individual preference. This is not an election one can use to send a message on Tamil issues. This is not a referendum on the right of self-determination. You must never do that,” he said.

The common Tamil candidate will fare very badly and when that happens people can interpret the result as Tamils do not want self-determination, he said. “This is a crazy idea and we have publicly condemned it,” he said.