The Hon. R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, this Bill seeks to cancel the old nominations submitted for the local authorities elections and allow new nominations. As someone who entered politics through local authorities, I understand their importance and service to the people. Therefore we agreed at the party leaders’ meeting to cancel the old nominations and accept new ones. The election due in March 2023 was postponed by the Ranil–Rajapaksa Government without cause. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya went to court seeking an Order to hold the election expeditiously; the court so directed, but the Government did not comply. Now a new Bill is before us to enable the election; we will support holding it.

¶ 02 However, there is a practical issue. Over 80,000 candidates lodged deposits for that election; those deposits remain in the Treasury. Those funds must be refunded so parties can re-nominate. Our party does not receive MPs’ salaries into a party fund; unlike others, we do not have large monthly inflows. Therefore, I request that deposits be refunded before new nominations are called.

¶ 03 Once this Bill is enacted, responsibility passes to the Election Commission to fix the date. Yet the Government’s Cabinet Spokesman/Chief Organizer has publicly said the election will be in April. How can a Cabinet Spokesman fix the date? Are instructions being given to the Election Commission? Do not undermine the Commission’s independence. By our calculation, roughly three months are needed to conduct the poll. Meanwhile, the Budget has been presented and will be debated through the 21st. Most Opposition time to raise public issues is at Committee Stage. Will Parliament be prorogued or disrupted to run an election campaign? We ask for a fair playing field.

¶ 04 Also consider practical calendars: the G.C.E. O/L examination will be held; traditionally we avoid disrupting students. Sinhala and Tamil New Year brings a national holiday period. These impact candidates, voters and public servants. We are not asking to delay the election for months; only to schedule nominations and polling sensibly.

¶ 05 We also ask the Election Commission to act independently. A Commission official reportedly said those who went to court demanding the election now want it postponed. We do not ask for postponement. Officials should refrain from such comments.

¶ 06 On reforms: the Parliamentary Special Committee on Electoral Reforms recommended electronic voting and stronger youth and women’s representation. At the last general election counting centres saw partisan conduct by some officials — unacceptable in a free system. Please safeguard neutrality.

¶ 07 The present local government system also has defects: a party with most votes in a body could still fail to form the council due to the mixed and topping-up formula. We in Badulla won the seat count but could not take office due to the system. Reforms are needed, including rationalizing the excessively high number of members introduced earlier.

¶ 08 We are ready for a fair, independent election. We will contest cleanly and we will win. Thank you.