Sri Lanka prepares for local elections despite economic crisis
Nominations are to be filed in the coming weeks while voting will be held in the first of mid-March. Uncertainty remains as to whether they can actually be held. Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian calls for citizen participation.
Colombo (AsiaNews) - The long-awaited call for nominations for Sri Lanka's local elections was published yesterday: nominations will be accepted from districts Jan. 18-21 and voting will be held in March, despite the country facing one of the worst economic and currency crises in its history.
The announcement was made yesterday morning by the chairman of the Election Commission, Nimal G. Punchihewa, adding that voting will be held before March 15 so that 340 local bodies can be formed within the next four days.
Activists from Aragalaya, the protest movement that led to the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, also said they were ready to contest.
Local governments in Sri Lanka are divided into three subcategories: 24 municipal councils, 41 urban councils, and 276 district councils in rural areas, while the total number of registered voters eligible to vote is about 16.7 million.
Dismissing speculation that local elections will cost 10 billion rupees (nearly 26 million euros) or more, Punchihewa said the Election Commission will do everything possible to limit costs to 8 billion rupees (20.6 million euros), specifying that the number of election officials will be less than 200,000.
Candidates from political parties and independent groups are vying for 8,711 seats. The voting system is mixed: 60 percent dry uninominal and 40 percent proportional. Political parties and independent groups are expected to include 25 percent women in the list of candidates and give young people the opportunity to be represented for 30 percent. However, this is not mandatory because the relevant law has not yet been passed.
It is still unclear whether the elections will be held for real, mainly because of a petition filed with the Supreme Court by a retired military officer seeking a stay order, citing Sri Lanka's current currency crisis.
For their part, opposition parties accuse the government of delaying the vote because the ruling formation, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (Slpp), fears an embarrassing defeat.
Shanakkian Rasamanikkam, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian from the eastern district of Batticaloa, explained that in Sri Lankan history elections have been postponed three times after nominations have been filed, but added that this time there is no reason to postpone them.
Therefore, he said, "I ask you to prepare to vote enthusiastically. This vote is the first opportunity for the people who have fought in Sri Lanka and are demanding system change," the MP asked the citizens, referring to the protesters in Aragalaya.
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24/10/2019 17:56
24/01/2007
