Three intervening petitioners reiterate the need to hold elections without delay

January 09, 2023

In filing intervention petitions in the Supreme Court against a writ petition filed by a retired army colonel in respect of the local government election, three intervenient petitioners reiterated the necessity of holding the local government election without any delay.

Three intervenient petitioners, including executive committee member of the National People's Power (NPP) Sunil Watagala and national organizer of the Socialist Youth Union Eranga Gunasekara, filed intervention petitions seeking an order to dismiss the petition filed by Colonel (Retd.) W.M.R. Wijesundera.

In his petition, Colonel Wijesundera sought an order quashing the decision of the Election Commission to hold the local government elections before March 10, as reported by the media.

He states that the decision of the Election Commission to hold the local government elections at this time, during this present crisis that the entire nation is facing, would lead to disaster and leave the general public with an additional burden.

However, the intervenient petitioners stated that the citizens of Sri Lanka who are

qualified to vote at the Local Government Election have a constitutional right to

vote, and thus, the election should be held at the appropriate time without any inordinate delay.

The intervenient petitioners stated that as per Article 3 of the Constitution, in Sri Lanka, sovereignty is in the people, and it includes the power of government, fundamental rights, and the right to vote. As per Article 4(e) of the Constitution, the right to vote is exercisable by every citizen who is qualified to vote at an election.