Former Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya says that the letter sent by the Secretary of the Ministry of State Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government Neil Bandara Hapuhinna to all district secretaries to suspend the acceptance of bail money for the local government election until further notice is only a ‘paper’.
“All the duties assigned to the District Returning Officer appointed by the gazette during polls can be performed by the Deputy / Assistant Election Commissioners who are duly gazetted District Assistant Returning Officers.
And the bail money is accepted not by elected officials but by Deputy or Assistant Commissioners.
“As a result, the letter that was attempted in 2018, in which they attempted to use the same tactic that had to be retracted in front of the EC, is just a piece of paper,” he said.