Hon. Attorney-at-Law Dayasiri Jayasekara

¶ 01 Thirdly, Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees, since three months have been requested, we can, as much as possible, fast-track this; even by taking an hour or two we can manage the time back and forth.

¶ 02 The Election Commission has submitted 10 proposals in 2021 to the Parliamentary Special Committee appointed for the purpose of electoral law reforms. Those proposals are with me now. They are, in fact, important. I will outline them.

¶ 03 First: take an example. Suppose we submit a nomination for a particular ward. If the nomination for that ward’s candidate is rejected, what happens next? If he is later appointed, what happens if he dies? Then, there is no way to appoint someone to fill the vacancy in the membership. A small amendment is proposed to resolve this issue. We say: bring that amendment.

¶ 04 Second: in cases of resignation, death, or other reasons causing a vacancy, a nomination should be submitted within the prescribed time limit—within 30 days. If a political party does not submit a nomination within those 30 days, the vacancy remains unfilled. A small amendment is needed to solve that problem. Bring it.

¶ 05 Third: if a group leader dies and no authorized representative has been appointed, there is a serious question as to who then exercises the functions of the group leader. Without an authorized representative, what happens? In such cases, a method must be devised—such as enabling independent groups together to withdraw or reject a nomination—so that a practical way exists. Under the current law, none of this is possible. That is the third point.

¶ 06 Fourth: if a group leader is found guilty by a court and loses his membership, he cannot continue as group leader. Since nominations to fill vacancies must be obtained from the group leader, if there is no group leader, there is no method to appoint anyone to that vacancy. That is what we discussed.

¶ 07 Fifth: women’s representation. I have separately presented an amendment to increase the female quota at nomination from 10 percent to 20 percent. Otherwise, what sometimes happens to a losing party? If one party wins a majority of wards, then due to the number of seats obtained, achieving the 25 percent women’s representation becomes operationally burdensome. For example, at the last election to the Kundasale Pradeshiya Sabha, they required six members; then they said to appoint all six as women. In that case, there was no way to appoint any men; all six were women. We say there should be a 25 percent women’s representation, but the issue is that when one party wins many wards, subsequently the other parties must appoint a higher number of women to meet the quota. I showed these proposals to the Minister that day and asked to bring them as soon as possible. The Hon. Minister was also there. We asked to bring them quickly. He said they would come with the new Constitution. But the elections law and the Constitution are two different things. I do not understand how ministries are run like this. He said a new Constitution will fix it. I said no; that will not happen. Elections law and the Constitution are separate. Even Ranil Wickremesinghe called that an L-board answer.

¶ 08 Sixth: we especially raised the issue of youth representation.

¶ 09 Seventh: if the minimum women’s representation is not met at nomination, can the nomination paper be accepted? For example, Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees, if in a nomination paper one candidate’s name in a ward is rejected and that rejected candidate was for women’s representation, then does the nomination paper get rejected for falling below 25 percent? There is no clear procedure on this.

¶ 10 Eighth: under section 9(3)(1) of the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, where a Leader of an independent group who holds Mayor/Chairman or Member office loses office, from the date of removal he is disqualified for five years from taking a seat or voting in any local authority. If such a group leader is so affected, what is to be done next? This is a problem that needs a solution.

¶ 11 Another issue: when parties refer members for removal on the ground of non-participation in council proceedings, the same removed member is reappointed. That is wrong. There are about 10 such issues. Implementing these proposals is not a big task; we can do it properly without any problem.

¶ 12 By this, we do not intend at any time to postpone the local government elections. We say this: we have time until 21 March. Let us quickly and properly complete these steps and hold the local government elections. There is no problem in that. That is our proposal. We are never ready to postpone elections. It is you who started this with dates, saying the election should be held by such and such a day—saying 19 April or 26 April—and then the Election Commission sometimes gets confused. Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees, the judgment given is not applicable here. That judgment applied only to the previously rejected or unheld local government elections. Therefore, that decision is not applicable to this matter. You ask for three months; we say hold the elections within those three months. There is no problem. Therefore, I say again and again: consider these matters. Especially, I tell the Minister and the Government: please let us carry out this process properly and resolve the issues. Having said so and thanking you for the time given, I conclude.