By Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Ratnayake said that the commission is capable of conducting any election, presidential or parliamentary.
Many parliamentarians know that the writing is on the wall, and it is inevitable that a parliamentary election will be held soon. Many parliamentarians are aware that ‘get rid of the 225’ is a popular slogan and making a comeback is a difficult task.
A week ago, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was having breakfast with Mahinda, Basil, and Sagala, took them by surprise (possibly not Sagala) by telling them that another election is around the corner. A new president, other than Wickremesinghe, will most probably call for fresh elections to take advantage of the victory; there is no rocket science about that. Was Wickremesinghe hinting at another scenario?
Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Ratnayake told a news conference on Wednesday that he is ready for any election. “If such a situation arises, the Commission will discuss it and take suitable steps. The Commission has the capability to hold any election at any given time. Currently, it is the presidential election that should be held, as the president’s term officially ends on November 18. If another election is called, the Commission can discuss it and conduct the election.” Of course, he was responding to a hypothetical question.
For the first time in history, the Election Commission will take astrological matters into concern when accepting nominations. Some have been asking if the Election Commission will be seeking the services of state-sponsored astrologers. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs maintains a panel of astrologers.
Nominations are accepted from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on an auspicious date. There is half an hour for objections. The Election Commission is aware that it is under fire for not announcing the exact date of the presidential election at the first possible opportunity and reducing the tensions that are mounting due to the constitutional amendment proposed by Ranil Wickremesinghe.
“We have to make it clear that there is no other reason taken into consideration in announcing the date of the elections. I have seen social media and other reports questioning why the election cannot be announced at the first available opportunity. We can go on until August 20 to make this announcement, but we will be making the announcement before the end of the month,” said the Commissioner General of Elections.
There are 17.1 million voters eligible to vote at the election, and about a million of them are new voters. Elections are, anyhow, an expensive matter. In the 2015 presidential election, the expenditure was Rs 2.7 billion; in the 2019 presidential election, it was Rs 4.5 billion. With inflation and the increase in prices, the cost has ballooned to an estimated Rs 10 billion.
