Mr. Nimal G. Punchihewa, the chairman of the Election Commission, said that the Commission is saddened by the irresponsible statement of the Director General of Government Information.
The Director General of Government Information had issued an announcement that the Election Commission had not forwarded the gazette notification required to start the local government election process to the Government Press.
Responding to it, the Election Commission held a press conference.
All the documents related to the gazette announcing that the 2023 local government elections will be held on March 09 have been forwarded to the Election Commission by the District Election Officers.
Accordingly, the Chairman of the Election Commission Mr. Nimal G. Punchihewa further said that the documents were forwarded to the Government Printing Office to publish the gazette with the date on March 09.
“The Commission is saddened by the irresponsible statement of someone holding a responsible position like the Director General of Government Information. Issuing the gazette is the responsibility of respective officers. It does not need to be signed by the chairman or members of the Election Commission. They are the ones who sign. The names of all the candidates will be gazetted after preparing the marks of the constituencies in which they are contesting. This is the process of local government elections since history. It is very sad that the Director General of Government Information is not aware of this said process. We have to regret his ignorance.”
Question – You keep receiving threats. It has been mentioned that no one has been identified as a suspect yet.
Answers – I saw that the media had said that this was the phone of a foreigner and that the police spokesperson had said. We have a problem with that. Now who went to the house of our member commissioner named Diwaratne and took a photograph of his vehicle at one o’clock in the morning. The person on the phone may be foreign. But if you look at that matter, if you check the CCTV and see who has come at this time. You can get an idea. The Commission feels that investigations should be faster and more efficient than that.
Question – There is still a little doubt among the people whether there will be a vote on March 9.
Answers – I am not an astrologer. The Commission is doing all the necessary work to hold the vote on the date set.”
