Election Commission to Convene Following Supreme Court Ruling

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Election Commission is set to meet next Wednesday to deliberate on the Supreme Court'sdecision regarding the local government elections. 

Chairman of the Election Commission, R.M.A.L. Ratnayake, stated that appropriate measures will be taken after thorough discussions.

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ruled that the failure to hold the Local Government Elections in 2023 constituted a violation of fundamental rights.

It added that the impugned acts and omissions of the President who is also the Minister of Finance resulted in the infringement of fundamental rights due to arbitrary and unlawful conduct which resulted in the non-holding of the Local Government Elections 2023.

It added that impugned acts and omissions of the Chairman and the members of the Election Commission who held office during the period of time relevant to these applications resulted in the infringement of the fundamental rights.

They are, Nimal Punchihewa, S.B.Divaratne, M.M.Mohamed, K.P.P.Pathirana and P.S.M. Charles.

The Court acknowledged the severe economic crisis faced by the country, which was cited by the respondents as a reason for not providing funds for the elections. However, the Court noted that the economic difficulties did not absolve the state of its responsibility to uphold fundamental rights.

The Court held that the Election Commission failed to properly plan and manage the election process, and the Commission did not exercise its powers to issue necessary directions to secure the cooperation of other state agencies.