{"id":209615,"date":"2020-04-19T19:21:42","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T13:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=209615"},"modified":"2020-04-22T12:51:31","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T07:21:31","slug":"date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Date Of The General Election & The Blame Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Rusiripala Tennakoon<\/a>\u00a0\u2013<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rusiripala Tennakoon<\/p><\/div>\n

The country is now aware of the contents of recent correspondence<\/span><\/a> the PM\u00a0<\/span>has had with the Chairman of the Elections Commission. The main subject is the issue surrounding the fixing of the date for the next General Election. The communication inter alia refers to many other matters quite unrelated to the main subject, {the answer to the question raised by many} the date of the election and the\u00a0<\/span>Coronavirus<\/span><\/a> disease, (which\u00a0<\/span>of course is in any way the main focus in the country today).<\/p>\n

The general feeling and the wish of the people of the country is a little different. Why should the fixing of a date for the election be a matter leading to any controversy ( as it appears) between the body responsible to conduct the election and the care taker government? The country is well and truly committed to the realities of the dilemma of the dreadful disease conditions. Looking at the global situation it will not be difficult to understand the highly unpredictable circumstances they may have to face. They can assess the priorities and reach consensus about the possibilities of the permissible things within control under the prevailing state of affairs. All understand the seriousness of the calamity befallen us at an unexpected moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Added to the sense of disorientation caused due to the public blame game in the higher echelons there are emerging signs of serious disagreements among the members of the Election Commission. Professor S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole who is a member of the commission<\/span><\/a>, has already stirred up a Hornet\u2019s nest passing strong strictures directed towards presumed contemplated actions and decisions about the much awaited fixing of a date for the election. From a public point of view his actions appear to be highly unwarranted in that he has chosen to preempt the decision making process of the commission even before it meets to address the issues. According to his public statements\u00a0<\/span>he has taken such a stand based on some unauthentic writings made public by various parties. Being a member of a Commission of such a high esteem constituted under the provisions of the Constitution\u00a0<\/span>consisting of persons who have distinguished themselves in special fields and recommended by the Constitutional Council of the country,\u00a0<\/span>it is unbecoming of his position to publicly criticize contemplated decision making processes of the Commission\u00a0 <\/span>even before the commissioners\u00a0<\/span>meet. The worst scenario is he has done so when a meeting has been convened to discuss the very issue scheduled to be held with his participation, on 20th<\/sup> April 2020. I am making these references in Public Interest based on a write up published<\/span><\/a> in his name in the Colombo Telegraph<\/em> on 18th<\/sup> April. The irony of the matter is he has chosen to castigate the high profile officials expected to be consulted by the Commission at its meeting scheduled for 18th<\/sup>. According to the article he has proceeded to berate some of these individuals citing previous allegations against them and even casting remarks on their professional standings. As members of the Public we stand aghast at this reckless audacity. The constitutional provisions governing the appointment of members of the Election Commission under article 103 (9) states;<\/p>\n

\u201cAll members of the commission shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning and for the purpose of Chapter IX of the Penal Code.\u201d<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it ethical for one public servant to publicly berate another?<\/p>\n

Coming back to the fixing of the date for the election we have a few issues.<\/p>\n

The PM in his letter having explained in detail,<\/p>\n

* About how the Corona virus pandemic has hit several countries<\/p>\n

* The economy of the country between 2015-2019<\/p>\n

* Debt burden of the country<\/p>\n

* The fact that the majority in parliament before the dissolution did not allow to pass a vote on account even to pay off the previous governments\u2019 debts;\u00a0describes the only solace left with his government to meet with the current situation. He has referred to Article\u00a0 <\/span>150 (3) of the constitution in this regard.<\/p>\n

An examination of this article shows that the President derives the power under this to authorize the issue from the consolidated fund and the expenditure of such sums as he may consider necessary for the public services until the expiry of a period of 3 months from the date on which the new parliament is summoned to meet.<\/p>\n

The date for the meeting of the new parliament is determined under article 70, where\u00a0<\/span>according to section 5(a), the new parliament has to meet on a date not later than three months after the date of the proclamation dissolving the parliament.<\/p>\n

Then\u00a0<\/span>according to article\u00a0<\/span>70, (5),\u00a0<\/span>the date for the first meeting of the parliament by a proclamation may be varied by a subsequent proclamation, provided that the date so fixed by the subsequent proclamation shall be a date not later than three months after the date of the original proclamation.<\/i><\/b>(emphasis ours)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It follows that the date given in the Original Proclamation becomes the cardinal factor. According to the Proclamation made the date for meeting the new parliament is 2nd<\/sup> June 2020. As long as the proclamation by the President stands all other dates eg. Nominations, elections etc.etc. will have to fall within. Subject to other requirements in the provisions of Act no 1 of 1981 governing the Parliamentary Elections, the Commissioner of elections will have to work within this limited time frame.<\/p>\n

The responsibility of the Commissioner of elections with regard to the holding of the election relevant to the issue is Section 24(3) where it states,<\/p>\n

(3) Where due to any emergency or unforeseen circumstances the poll for the election in any electoral district cannot be taken on the day specified in the notice relating to the election published under subsection (1), the Commissioner may, by Order published in the Gazette, appoint another day for the taking of such poll, and such other day shall not be earlier than the fourteenth day after the publication of the Order in the Gazette.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

This deals with inability caused due to any unforeseen circumstances to hold the poll in any electoral district the commissioner can appoint another date by order in a gazette.<\/p>\n

Such date should be at least 14 days from the date of the gazette.<\/p>\n

The issue is can the Commissioner of elections fix a date applying this section for the forthcoming election particularly when the conditions suitable for holding an island wide election cannot be decided due to indeterminable factors governing the situation?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Can the Supreme court give a ruling when there are other options available in the constitution that can be applied?<\/p>\n

Will the opposition cooperate with the care taker government to give its approval to fix a date for the election once the conditions in the country become conducive for such a purpose?<\/p>\n

Will the opposition take into account that according to the 19th<\/sup> amendment it is not the President who is answerable to a future parliament but a Cabinet only headed by the President?<\/p>\n

It is definitely an unprecedented situation. We know that the only way available to break a deadlock within the parliament as it was, between the parliament and the government was dissolution.<\/p>\n

Corona virus disease has intervened and\u00a0 <\/span>become an external force nullifying everything else.<\/p>\n

An enemy has overpowered the humans by declaring a war against humanity. The enemy has been able to put a halt to all normal human activities and virtually immobilized the Globe. In this unusual situation let us come together to do the best for all, sinking all our other parochial interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":209350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nDate Of The General Election & The Blame Game - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Date Of The General Election & The Blame Game - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-19T13:51:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-22T07:21:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"437\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rusiripala Tennakoon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rusiripala Tennakoon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/\",\"name\":\"Date Of The General Election & The Blame Game - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-19T13:51:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-22T07:21:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c63ae3f6e4a57af3e03fcd9a69009b08\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg\",\"width\":740,\"height\":437},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Date Of The General Election & The Blame Game\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c63ae3f6e4a57af3e03fcd9a69009b08\",\"name\":\"Rusiripala Tennakoon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b7c632d00e3e085fd4ad9072f1efdfdf322c4673e57cc4049ea28fd9681e51e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b7c632d00e3e085fd4ad9072f1efdfdf322c4673e57cc4049ea28fd9681e51e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rusiripala Tennakoon\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/rtenne\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Date Of The General Election & The Blame Game - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Date Of The General Election & The Blame Game - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2020-04-19T13:51:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-22T07:21:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":740,"height":437,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rusiripala Tennakoon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rusiripala Tennakoon","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/","name":"Date Of The General Election & The Blame Game - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-19T13:51:42+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-22T07:21:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c63ae3f6e4a57af3e03fcd9a69009b08"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg","width":740,"height":437},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/date-of-the-general-election-the-blame-game\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Date Of The General Election & The Blame Game"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c63ae3f6e4a57af3e03fcd9a69009b08","name":"Rusiripala Tennakoon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b7c632d00e3e085fd4ad9072f1efdfdf322c4673e57cc4049ea28fd9681e51e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b7c632d00e3e085fd4ad9072f1efdfdf322c4673e57cc4049ea28fd9681e51e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Rusiripala Tennakoon"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/rtenne\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209615"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209616,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209615\/revisions\/209616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}