Sri Lanka opposition meets EC to urge it to hold presidential poll on time

Colombo, Jul 12 (PTI) Sri Lanka's main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party said it met with the election commission on Friday to urge it to hold the presidential election on time and thwart any move to postpone it.

The presidential election is to take place on a date between September 17 and October 16, the election commission has indicated.

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party's move came after an individual last week filed a fundamental rights petition urging the Supreme Court to hold back the election until a clarification could be made on an ambiguity in the presidential term concerning Articles 30(2) and 82 in the Constitution.

“We met the elections commission to impress upon the need to hold the election. What we see is attempts by the government to postpone it as it is going to be defeated," Ranjith Madduma Bandara, SJB general secretary, told the media.

While Article 30(2) had limited the presidential term to five years from six in terms of the 19th Amendment adopted in 2015, there was no referendum held to change Article 82 which says that a presidential term could be extended up to six years through a referendum. The petitioner therefore sought clarity on the term.

A lawyer on Friday in another petition called for the postponement of the election claiming that the 19th Amendment to the Constitution adopted in 2015 had not been passed properly.

This was the second petition filed in the Supreme Court over the presidential election.

The opposition doubts were multiplied as the government announced on Tuesday that it would present a draft bill to end the ambiguity.

The opposition, which moved an adjournment motion in the parliament on Thursday, said the move had sinister designs to delay the election.

The amendment’s scrutiny in the Supreme Court could delay the election, the opposition charged. PTI CORR PY PY PY