The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, on behalf of the Opposition, I place on record that we support this Bill presented by the Government today. So there is no question of voting against it.

¶ 02 Clause 3 of the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill states: “Provided that, the notices of nominations in terms of section 26 of the Ordinance shall be published on such date as the Election Commission may determine by Order published in the Gazette and such date shall however, be a date not later than three months from the date of coming into operation of this Act.”

¶ 03 So, if this Bill gets assent and the Hon. Speaker certifies it today, you have three months from today to call for nominations—not to hold elections, but merely to call for nominations. What we, certainly my party, ask the Government to consider is this: mine is a single-Member party; I am the only Member and also the General Secretary. The moment you call for nominations, I cannot be in Parliament; I must go around signing every nomination form. How then can I take part in this Debate? I have a mandate to contribute to the Budget Debate. So we ask: at least till the 21st of March, when the Budget Debate finishes, please do not call for nominations. At midnight on the 21st, you may. But before that, I would be disenfranchised.

¶ 04 I am already in no Committee as a single Member since you are strict about Committee sizes and not increasing Opposition numbers. Thus, my only chance is to speak here, particularly during the Budget. If you call for nominations before the end of the Budget, you would effectively disenfranchise me.

¶ 05 I am not talking about other amendments mentioned by Opposition Members. Yes, there are shortcomings; let them be—it applies to everybody. We will manage or amend the law later. The Supreme Court, a long time ago, said the election should be held. Despite knowing the Court’s view against postponement, you are asking for three months to call fresh nominations. You could have asked for a month or two weeks. Despite the Supreme Court, you have asked for three months. We are not asking to go beyond three months—not even by a day. We only ask: do not call for nominations till the 21st of March.

¶ 06 “As early as possible” means “as early as practicable.” Is it practicable to call for nominations when we, as MPs and Party Leaders, must contribute to the Budget Debate, while I, as General Secretary, must be in electorates signing nomination papers? Is it physically possible? The earlier Lady Member cited the need to be reasonable in fixing dates. Is this not a reasonable reason to not call for nominations before 21 March? I kindly ask the Hon. Prime Minister and the relevant Minister to weigh in. If together we tell the Commission of this practical problem, the Commission will understand. That is all we ask: do not call for nominations till the 21st of March; after the Budget Vote, we will be ready to face elections.

¶ 07 Another point: the NPP and we were the only two parties in the previous Parliament that refused to meet Ranil Wickremesinghe as we felt he had no mandate. Even when he was prepared to discuss the ethnic problem, we refused. That is how seriously we consider legitimacy. When the “aragalaya” took off, we said the then Parliament must also be dissolved once the President and Prime Minister resigned. We wanted elections. All we ask now is to wait till 21 March, and for Government and Opposition together to request the Commission to fix a reasonable date after 21 March. Otherwise, you effectively disenfranchise parties like us. Thank you.