Why BR hides in hill country?
Who is the ‘cat’s paw’ this time?
The next move of pro- government media
The government’s use of various tricks to postpone local government elections is no longer a secret to the entire country and the international community. Initially, the government was working behind the scenes in secret, but it has now been revealed that it is being done openly. We also took steps to reveal to the country step by step through this Rajya Rahas Colunm how all those efforts were launched one by one by the government, and how they failed. As a result, we are informing the country through this column about the government’s latest attempt to postpone the election last week, as well as the characters involved.
Election date through zoom
The election commission announced March 9 as the date for holding the local government election last Saturday. That date was decided through a zoom discussion involving four members of the commission. The reason for the postponement of the Zoom discussion was that two members of the commission had received death threats due to their non-attendance at the election commission except for an essential duty. It is a special event that the two of them are coming to the Election Commission amid tight security. Accordingly, there was a special zoom discussion between the two members who were present at the commission last Saturday, where these four together discussed to hold the election on March 09. They also took steps to inform the media about it.
However, in order to add to the confusion, the government’s announcement that the election date is March 9th was made orally rather than through the gazette. It was also seen how the government conducted a separate campaign on the subject. However, the commission stated that for the time being, it is sufficient to announce the date orally, and that it will be published in the gazette after about a week. It was stated that this is the general practise. The reason for this was that the Commission stated that the Gazette would be issued after receiving all of the attachments sent by the Election Officers. Accordingly, the story of the gazette which government carried too saw an end.
UNP leaders meeting with President
After that, another series of special events have been running since the beginning of the week. Although there is still no information to say whether these events are related to each other, it is a special event that these events happened as if they were parts of a mega tele drama that is aired daily. The first incident was the sudden release of a special announcement by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday. The announcement said that the President called the UNP Management Committee to the Presidential Secretariat for discussion, where the President informed the UNP leaders to prepare for an emergency election.
At the same time, its members received a call from Parliamentary Secretary General Dhammika Dasanayake on Tuesday that an emergency legislative council meeting had been called on Wednesday. When an election has been announced and the representatives of minor parties have not yet been nominated to the Legislative Council, a question was raised as to why the Legislative Council is being called in this way and in response it was said that steps have been taken to call this Legislative Council meeting because there are many necessary appointments in the judiciary. But indeed, as we have said before, this Legislative Council meeting was the beginning of a series of strange events.
Pro Govt. Media in action
The first incident was that special news was ‘planted’ in some pro-government media on Tuesday afternoon when the Constituent Assembly was convened. The news said that this emergency legislative council meeting will be held to appoint new members to the Election Commission and other independent commissions. It was hinted that the election would not be held as a new election commission would be appointed. Below is the news published by the government in their friendly media.
‘Parliamentary sources say that new members will be appointed to the Election Commission in the next few days.
In order to take a decision in this regard, the Constituent Assembly is scheduled to meet tomorrow (25) Wednesday under the chairmanship of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.
Apart from this, new members are to be appointed for other independent commissions in the next few days.
It is reported that the representatives of the other opposition parties, which are not the main opposition, have not been appointed to the Constituent Assembly and a decision will be taken in this regard during the meeting on Wednesday.
The three civilian representatives for the Constituent Assembly were recently appointed.
The Constituent Assembly was established according to the provisions of the twenty-first constitutional amendment. After the appointment of the new Constituent Assembly, new members should be appointed and re-installed for the independent commissions’.
Govt. Pressure on EC
As a result, a political rumour circulated on Tuesday evening that the government is planning to put pressure on the Election Commission and play a game to postpone the elections by changing the commission’s members. After various parties informed opposition leader Sajith of this, Sajith immediately called Parliament’s Secretary General, Mr. Dhammika Dasanayake, and inquired about it. First, Sajith asked Dhammika it had been noted that in the preliminary discussion between the Speaker, the Prime Minister, and himself, they had reached an agreement that until all ten full members of the Legislative Council were appointed, the Legislative Council would not be appointed in this manner.
There Dhammika also admitted that the prior agreement was recorded. But Dhammika said that since many appointments had to be finalized, the Legislative Council had to be convened, and if the appointment of the minor party representative was delayed, the work of the council would be carried out by the currently appointed members.
Sajith oppose
That is not a problem. Presenting the opposite idea, Sajith reiterated that it is a problem to suddenly convene the Legislative Council when there is a written agreement that the Legislative Council will not function until full members are appointed. But Dhammika also replied that many urgent appointments are to be made, so it has been decided to convene the council.
Then Sajith asked about the agenda of the meeting. Sajith protested when Dhammika said that there is no agenda for the meeting and because it is only a discussion. Sajith objecting and said an agenda is needed, and said it is impossible to prevent the raising of doubts about the gathering of the Legislative Assembly by breaking even the written agreement. But Dhammic assurance to Sajith that no such secret work will take place in this discussion.
Sajith’s special announcement
Although Dhammika said so, by Tuesday evening Sajith also realized how some conspiracy was going on behind the scenes through the news published in certain media and websites. Accordingly, Sajith made a special statement in this regard. There, Sajith said that if the government is making any conspiracy to postpone the election through the Constituent Assembly, he will not allow it at all.
As a new step in the scam of disrupting these elections, the members of the Election Commission will be changed tomorrow through the Constituent Assembly, and they will try to undermine the Election Commission, and since it is mentioned in the law books of the country that if they interfere with the sovereignty of the people. Opposition leader Sajith said that Samagi Jana Balawegaya will go to court against the attempt taking up government’s attempts through Hapuhinna and the Treasury Secretary to spoil the sovereignty of the people.
Also, the opposition leader further stated that if the meeting of the Legislative Council is used to disrupt the elections held on March 09, the action will be definitely defeated by protecting the voting rights of the people of the country, and any measures will be taken for that.
Sajith also said that the responsible parties of the Legislative Council are being warned not to include conspiracies to postpone the elections in the agenda of the meeting of the Legislative Council and not to do anything to harm the representatives of the Independent Election Commission.
Protect EC
The opposition leader also said that Samagi Jana Balawega is ready to protect the members including the Chairman of the Election Commission and that as the leader of the opposition, he will provide leadership to defeat all conspiracies that spoil the sovereignty of the people in this country and that he will come forward at any time to protect the voting rights of the people.
Accordingly, on Wednesday morning, Sajith, who was preparing for the Legislative Council meeting, called his representative, Kabir, while Kabir was engaged in election activities in Kegalle. Accordingly, Sajith informed Kabir to continue the work and decided to attend the Legislative Council meeting alone. When Sajith came to the meeting on Wednesday morning, the Prime Minister, the Speaker, Nimal Siripala, the representative of the government, Sagara Kariyawasam, the representative of Pohottuwa and the three representatives of civil organizations were also present.
Not to appoint a new EC
However, the discussion was about the criteria to be followed in appointing members to the 10 independent commissions by the Legislative Assembly. There, Sajith clearly said that there is no problem in preparing criteria for appointing members to other independent commissions, but it is not appropriate to change the members of the election commission at the moment when a local government election has been called, as it is not ethical and it is done with the aim of disrupting the election. It was a special that Sajith insisted on taking notes (minutes). Accordingly, a chain of events was seen there that showed a way of agreeing to the notice served.
Sajith Brief other SJB members
However, after finishing this discussion, Sajith came directly to the opposition leader’s office at Marcus Fernando Mawatha in Colombo. When Sajith arrived, several members of parliament including SJB General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara were gathered there. Accordingly, when the MPs inquired about what happened in the discussion, Sajith said that the criteria for appointing members to independent commissions were discussed and it was decided to proceed with the appointment of new members for other commissions apart from the Election Commission.
Contradicting notice
But the problem arose on Wednesday afternoon due to special news published in pro-government media. The news said that a decision has been taken in the Legislative Assembly to publish notices for the appointment of new members to all ten independent commissions, including the Election Commission, and it has been decided to publish the related notice in the newspapers this weekend. As a result, it was reported in the news that interested parties could apply within two weeks.
At the same time, the SJB MPs who were busy with the election activities continued to talk to Sajith and took steps to inquire whether the news that the Legislative Council had decided to change the members of the Election Commission was true or not. Sajith told all those who spoke that no such decision was taken and that the government has started another conspiracy to postpone the vote.
Sajith, who was very angry with that incident, immediately made a phone call to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. Speaking to the speaker, Sajith said that there was a discussion about the appointment of new independent commissions, but there was no discussion about the election commission, and he informed them to note it clearly. Then the Speaker replied that he too had heard the same, that the Secretary General of the Parliament had issued announcements related to it, and that the Secretary General had even prepared the notices to be sent to the newspapers.
Speaker’s evasive reply
Sajith, who was further angered by the speaker’s statement, said that it cannot be allowed at all, and that nothing should be done to affect the members of the Election Commission at the moment when an election has been announced, and it was clearly announced in the meeting held in the morning. But in reply to that, the Speaker said again that in that case, another Legislative Council meeting can be called and discussed on this matter. But Sajith protested and said that by that time the advertisements in the weekend newspapers had finished, and then everything that had to happen had already happened. If so, the Speaker informed Sajith to discuss it with the Secretary General of the Parliament.
Accordingly, even though the negotiations were over, Sajith again called the Speaker and requested him to stop the advertisements sent to the newspapers before taking the Dhammika. But the Speaker reiterated that by now the relevant notices have been sent to all the newspapers and it cannot be cancelled now. If so, Sajith requested to document the statement he made protesting against this, but the Speaker said that it is not possible now, and that the Constituent Assembly will meet again on Monday and discuss this matter. But Sajith did not agree at all.
Who bluff.?
Accordingly, Sajith disconnected the speaker’s call and called Dhammikat on the other side. Sajith told Dhammika that he had protested against the appointment of new members to the Election Commission in the Legislative Council meeting held in the morning, and that he had said that there was no problem in appointing members to the other commissions. Then, when Dhammika declared that he accepted it, Sajith asked again why he did not record his objection in the documents (minutes). Then Dhammika said that he was unable to minute it. If so, when Sajith informed Dhammika to immediately remove the Election Commission from the list of newspaper advertisements, Dhammika said that they had already been forwarded to the newspaper agencies.
Sajith became even more angry with Dhammika’s answer. How do you do that? How do we prepare the notices by including a point of disagreement in the Constituent Assembly? Now the voting is over. Nominations are over. The date has been announced. At such a time, can we post advertisements to appoint new members of the Election Commission? People are asking for a vote. At such a time, if you behave in this way, people will be angry. So I say please don’t do this thing. If that is done, I will tell the whole country who is behind this matter…’ while Sajith said in a stern tone, Dhammika admitted that he had made a mistake and informed Sajith that appropriate measures will be taken in consultation with the speaker.
Call back the advertisement!
Accordingly, Sajith received a phone call from Dhammika again within a few minutes. In that call, Dhammika told Sajith that she had discussed this matter with the Speaker, and according to the initial agreement, apart from the Election Commission, notices of other commissions will also be included, and Sajith’s objection was also included in the minutes. However, the ‘rajya rahas’ column has come to know that Sajith has taken steps to suspend even the notices sent to the weekend newspapers after protesting in this way.
Sajith meet legal team
However, with this incident, Sajith immediately called his legal team and took steps to seek legal advice in this regard. Also, Sajith had planned to call foreign journalists immediately and tell them about this anti-democratic program if the government decided to call for applications to appoint members to the Election Commission despite his objection..
While this incident ended like this on Wednesday afternoon, another controversial scene started on Wednesday night. Pro-government media reported that Mrs. Charls has resigned from the Election Commission. Mrs. P.M.P. Charles is a member of the Election Commission. The news did not mention the letter of resignation or the reasons for the resignation and only stated that the letter was addressed to the President.
Mrs Charls did she resign!
With the publication of this news on Wednesday night, the political field was immediately disturbed with the fact that the government has played a definite trump card in postponing the local government elections. Accordingly, everyone rushed to find out whether this news was true or not. At a time when a member of the commission resigns when an election has been called, what will happen to the election, will it have to be cancelled, or will the existing members be able to continue with the election? Mr. Punchihewa and the former chairman of the Election Commission, Mr. Mahinda Deshapriya dispel this doubt by releasing media statements.
Accordingly, Mr. Punchihewa gave a statement to the media on Thursday morning and said that Charles’ resignation has no effect on the Election Commission and that the election will be held on March 9 as scheduled. And due to the fact that some media had reported that the chairman of the commission was also going to resign along with the resignation of Charles, Punchiheva said that the news was completely false and that he should not even waste time to answer such news.
Also, there has been a great controversy regarding the resignation of Charles. That is because the Election Commission has not officially received such a letter till Friday. Generally, if a member of the Election Commission resigns, the Commission should be notified first. But due to the fact that such a letter has not yet been received by the Commission, the Election Commission took steps to issue a special announcement about it on Thursday night. The announcement stated as follows.
Experts opine on the resignation
2023.01.26
The news that members including the Chairman of the Election Commission have resigned and that the resignation of one of the members of the Commission has been forwarded to the President’s Office has spread through the media. The Election Commission has not yet received a written resignation of a member of the Election Commission or a copy of such a letter, and the members including the Chairman will carry out the constitutional functions of the Election Commission and the functions related to the 2023 local government polls without any hindrance. I hereby announce that
It is further announced that the Commission has observed that such false propaganda is created and propagated from time to time with the aim of undermining the trust of the people in the Commission.
As directed by the Election Commission
H.M.T.D. Herath
Secretary,
Election Commission
Former EC’s views
In addition, Mahinda Deshapriya, the former commissioner of the Election Commission, had mentioned Charles’s resignation and the related decision in this manner.
Will this resignations cripple EC? I noted in a previous post that the answer to this is no and that the commission has three members to function. We have also published Article 104 of the Constitution as a comment on this question, which is asked repeatedly by many people.
Article 104 of the Constitution as a comment on this question, which is asked repeatedly by many people.
104. (1) The quorum for any meeting of the Commission shall be three members.
(2) (a) The Chairman of the Commission shall preside at all meetings of the Commission and in the absence of the Chairman from any meeting of the Commission, a member elected by the members present from amongst themselves shall preside at such meeting.
(b) Decisions of the Commission shall be by a majority of the members present and voting at the meeting at which the decision is taken, and in the event of an equality of votes, the Chairman or the member presiding at the meeting shall have a casting vote.
(3) The Commission shall have power to act notwithstanding any vacancy in the membership of the Commission, and no act or proceeding or decision of the Commission shall be invalid or be deemed to be invalid by reason only of such vacancy or any defect in the appointment of a member.
Accordingly, now there is only one more chance left to postpone the vote. That is the decision given by the court regarding the local government election on the 9th.
Basil on a holiday
Last week, when Colombo politics heated up like this, Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, who is considered to be the mastermind of Pohottuwa, was out in the cold of the mountains. Former Minister Mr. S.M. Chandrasena’s son’s wedding took place last week, and Basil was the witness signing from the groom’s side. Therefore, Basil went to Kandy with his wife Pushpa last Saturday to spend a few days relaxing there and participate in the wedding ceremony. Basil had chosen a beautiful bungalow near Hantana for his rest. Accordingly, Basil was seen spending those few days relaxing with two other friends who are very close to him.
A Suspicion behind resignation!
Despite not being involved in public politics during his brief stay in Hantane, the ‘Rajya Rahas’ column has learned that Basil has devised a major political strategy. As a result, Basil was seen making calls to several powerful political figures in Colombo right from Hantana. Some suspect Basil’s influence was at work in the resignation of Mrs. Charles, a member of the Election Commission. However, no specific information has been released in this regard.