In an affidavit to the Supreme Court, Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake stated that the Election Commission has faced great difficulty in taking the necessary steps to hold the local government election due to the failure of the Secretary to the Treasury and other relevant officials to release required funds for the conduct of the election.
Accordingly, Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake urged the Supreme Court to make appropriate orders on the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and other officials to facilitate the holding of local authority elections in accordance with the law and in accordance with the undertakings given by the Commission to the Supreme Court.
Saman Sri Ratnayake stated that he is submitting this affidavit in consultation with the Chairman of the Elections Commission.
Ratnayake stated that the Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, in his letter dated January 31, 2023, and the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board, in his letter dated February 2, 2023, have informed the Chairman of the Elections Commission about their difficulties in providing electricity and fuel for the election as requested.
He maintained that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the Ceylon Electricity Board have a duty to ensure the provision of fuel and electricity, respectively, for the purpose of the election and that any move to deny fuel and the supply of electricity for election purposes will result in a hindrance to the election process.
Ratnayake informed the court that an amount of 10,000 million rupees has been allocated in the annual estimates for the year 2023 for the activities of the Local Authorities Election, and this has been approved by Parliament.
Ratnayake further said that though he requested the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization, and National Policies to release the imprest for the initial arrangements of the election, the said request has not been fulfilled.
He further said by his letter dated 24/01/2023, he requested the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies to release 100 million rupees by the last week of January and the remaining imprest to be released in the month of February.
He stated that it is not necessary to arrange the aforementioned amount of 10,000 million rupees all at once to carry out the activities of the election. According to data from previous elections, less than 25% of the total expenditure on elections is incurred before the election.
