It is reported that during the meeting where the members of the Election Commission were called on July 18, the President tried to exert some influence on the case before the court regarding the holding of the local government election. Sri Lanka Latest News
Although the president called the three members appointed for the election commission for a discussion, the chairman of that commission R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, It is learned that after discussing only with the members of the commission have been directed to discuss with President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake.
At that time, the Additional Solicitor General of the Attorney General’s Department, Priyantha Navana, was with the President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, where they asked about the cases before the court regarding the local government election.
It has been stated there that the Attorney General’s Department can appear in those cases on behalf of the Election Commission, and the members of the Election Commission have not given an agreeable answer in that regard. It is also reported that the members of the Election Commission have stated that there will not be a conflict between the relatives when the Attorney General’s Department appears on behalf of the Election Commission, which is now in the position that elections should be held again.
When the political parties took legal action regarding the non-holding of the local government elections as announced, the Attorney General’s Department was informed that it could not represent the Election Commission as it stood for the government’s position of not holding the elections. Accordingly, President’s Attorney Sally Peiris was used to represent the commission in the court proceedings.
During an inquiry in this regard, a senior official of the Election Commission stated that the Attorney General’s Department represented the Election Commission and held discussions to bring the Commission to the position of not holding government elections, and that matters such as asking how much the upcoming presidential election will cost were used to cover up the real call.
He said that the members of the new Election Commission are also in the same position regarding the judicial proceedings.
