{"id":68527,"date":"2020-04-21T19:47:17","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T00:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=68527"},"modified":"2020-04-21T21:04:53","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T02:04:53","slug":"opposition-parties-protesr-against-election-commission-fixing-june-20-for-elections-without-consulting-them-but-ec-chairman-deshapriya-says-new-election-date-is-subject-to-revision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=68527","title":{"rendered":"Opposition Parties Protest Against Election Commission Fixing June 20 for Elections Without Consulting them but EC Chairman Deshapriya says new Election Date is “Subject to Revision”"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s Election Commission has set the country\u2019s parliamentary election for June 20, after it postponed the April 25 polls in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka has reported 309 coronavirus cases and seven deaths so far. A total of 33 infections were detected on Monday, the highest number to be recorded on a single day, prompting authorities to move 1,010 people from a working class neighbourhood in Colombo to quarantine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are controlling the spread of the virus and increasing testing rates too. But it\u2019s difficult for anybody to say when the pandemic will end,\u201d Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Director General of Public Health, told The Hindu on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

According to him, Sri Lanka conducted 695 tests on Monday. \u201cWe want to increase it to 1,000 a day soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Election Commission\u2019s announcement came two days after Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a statement that the Commission was \u201cmandatorily required\u201d to fix a new date for the polls. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s secretary too wrote to the Commission on April 9, emphasising citizens\u2019 right to franchise, and the Commission\u2019s \u201cresponsibility\u201d to fix the date for the election.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, top officials of the Election Commission met representatives of different political parties. Following the meeting, former Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa told media that polls must be held only after health officials gave a public guarantee that it was safe to do so.<\/p>\n

Spelling out his rationale for choosing June 20 as the poll date, Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya reportedly said he had calculated seven weeks\u2019 time for poll campaign beginning a week after April 27, when authorities have promised to further ease the nationwide curfew. This was confirmed to The Hindu by Election Commissioner Ratnajeevan Hoole.<\/p>\n

However, Mr. Deshapriya told political party representatives that the date was \u201csubject to revision\u201d, according to former Tamil National Alliance legislator M.A. Sumanthiran. \u201cWe collectively raised objection to the fact that the parties were not even consulted before the Commission announced the date. And we don\u2019t know where we stand in terms of the pandemic\u2019s spread,\u201d he told The Hindu.<\/p>\n

Worrisome situation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the Commission\u2019s justifications, Opposition parties are not convinced.<\/p>\n

They raise concern broadly on three grounds \u2014 public health, the prospect of a free and fair election in unprecedented circumstances and constitutional questions arising from President Rajapaksa dissolving Parliament on March 2, calling for snap polls on April 25.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ground situation is still worrisome. So many people\u2019s health is at peril, so many have lost their livelihoods… how can we think of elections amid the ruthless spread of the pandemic?\u201d asked Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and a former MP, who was among those who met the EC chairman on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Vijitha Herath, a former MP of the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, who also attended the meeting, said: \u201cWe are in the midst of a pandemic, and our people are suffering. In our view, it is not suitable to hold polls now,\u201d he told The Hindu.<\/p>\n

Opposition parties also accuse the government of \u201celectioneering in the guise of pandemic response\u201d.<\/p>\n

The former legislators point to a Presidential Task Force on Essential Services led by Basil Rajapaksa, brother of the President and the Prime Minister, who is also the national organiser of the ruling Sri Lanka People\u2019s Party (SLPP).<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can it be a free and fair election when they [government] have an unfair advantage,\u201d Mr. Herath asked.<\/p>\n

Further, pointing to Article 70(5) of Sri Lanka\u2019s Constitution, Mr. Hakeem, also a lawyer, said there was an imminent constitutional crisis as Parliament has to be summoned not later than three months after the proclamation dissolving the House [March 2]. \u201cThe Election Commission has scheduled polls for June 20, which is clearly outside that three-month limit,\u201d Mr. Hakeem said, adding: \u201cWe expected the Election Commission to be an independent body, not a lapdog of this government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The JVP shared the opinion that reconvening Parliament \u201cis the best available option to avert a constitutional crisis,\u201d according to Mr. Herath.<\/p>\n

However, President Rajapaksa on Monday said in a television programme that he had \u201cno intention of reconvening the previous Parliament\u201d. Government members have maintained that the opposition\u2019s resistance to polls came from its \u201cfear of defeat\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Creeping dictatorship\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the President\u2019s refusal to reconvene the legislature, Mr. Hakeem said the Executive [President] has \u201cclearly shown that he does not like to be constrained by Parliament,\u201d and noted that the country was \u201cpermitting a creeping dictatorship\u201d.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the development, TNA Leader R. Sampanthan, one of Sri Lanka\u2019s senior most politicians, said the President was responsible to Parliament, as was the Cabinet of Ministers under him. But there is no Parliament in session. \u201cThe new Parliament will not convene on the date originally expected… this uncertainty cannot continue,\u201d he told The Hindu.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur law provides for such a situation. The Constitution [Article 70 (7)] says that in the case of an emergency, the President can convene the old Parliament to be in session either until the emergency is resolved or a new election is held, whichever happens first. Then, the President must do that. His responsibility and the collective answerability of the Cabinet to Parliament is a continuing constitutional obligation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka\u2019s Election Commission has set the country\u2019s parliamentary election for June 20, after it postponed the April 25 polls in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka has reported 309 coronavirus cases and seven deaths so far. A total of 33 infections were detected on Monday, the highest number to …<\/p>\n

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