Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s Publicity Secretary Vijitha Herath says that Ranil, who decreased the number of MPs, is working to postpone the election saying that it is necessary to reduce it.
He said this while addressing a press conference held at the Janatha Vimukti Peramuna head office in Battaramulla Pelawatta this afternoon (10).
He further commented,
“Ranil Rajapaksa’s statement regarding the local government elections is the primary focus of the media. The government has postponed the local government elections that were to be held in February this year. Due to the government’s inability to hold a vote when the public opinion has completely changed, the minister’s power was used and postponed by a year. The Election Commission has received the authority to hold local government elections at any time from September 20 to the middle of next March.
The Chairman of the Election Commission announced that the local government elections will be held immediately after the registration of youth voters. Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said in Parliament that the vote would be held on time. But the vote has already been postponed for a year. Another tactic used by the government to delay is to declare that the number of 8000 members of these institutions should be reduced. It was increased to this extent during the Ranil-Maithri regime. They are trying to use it as a subterfuge to postpone the vote by pretending that Ranilma should be reduced to 4,000. To reduce it to 4000, we have to go for a new delimitation that changes the existing divisions. They are trying to use that delimitation and use a tactic in an anti-democratic way.
The delimitation amendment proposal has already been postponed for a year using the legal obstacle of not being approved by the Parliament. It is clear from the situation that the provincial council elections have been postponed without a date, showing the people that the number of members should be reduced. We urge the government to immediately stop the undemocratic postponement of the election. At this time, the people are demanding the dissolution of the corrupt parliament and immediate general elections.
For that too, the current wrong proportional system will be changed and a report will be obtained before June. It has been said that if the report does not come before the end of that month, a referendum will be held. What this will do is postpone the provincial council election, local government election and parliamentary election and not listen to the popular opinion.
Ranil learned the method of vote postponement from his uncle JR. From Jayawardene. JR, Ranil Wickramasinghe was a chief minister in that government where Ranasinghe Premadasa was. Now they are preparing to postpone the elections accordingly because the government does not have a popular opinion from the people of this country. According to the constitution, the executive president is a position elected directly by the people. But because Ranil Wickramasinghe was not a president elected directly by the people, he has no right to exercise executive power. Also, by making a big show of bringing the 22nd amendment, the minimal or widespread democracy that would have come from that amendment has been shrunk.
