Polls ping-pong
The government and the Election Commission (EC) have been playing ping-pong on a crucial national issue, for the last couple of weeks or so; they refuse to decide when the postponed general election will be held. They keep shifting the onus for doing so to each other. Their wrangle has left the public confused.
The EC, recently, went so far as to ask President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to seek an opinion from the Supreme Court over the issue. The government rejected its request out of hand. Giving reasons for its decision to call for invoking the consultative jurisdiction of the apex court, the EC wrote to the President that there were no signs of the Covid-19 crisis being over until the end of April. It wouldn’t be possible to meet the constitutional requirement that the next Parliament commence its sitting latest by 2 June 2020, the EC said. Its call has given a big fillip to the Opposition’s campaign for having the parliamentary polls further postponed and the dissolved parliament reconvened.
In what may be considered a surprising move to wrong-foot the EC, the government has decided to commence the process of reopening the country with effect from today. The ball is now in Polls Chief Mahinda Deshapriya’s court. The EC is planning to have a special meeting shortly to discuss the latest development, according to media reports. However, the EC members are not speaking with one voice.
One of the most serious flaws in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution is that all three members of the EC have to be present for the commission meetings to be quorate, and a single member can cripple the entire institution by absenting himself so that no crucial decisions can be taken. A dispute between two EC members can plunge the electoral process into chaos. No constitutional remedy is available, thanks to the badly drafted 19th Amendment. This flaw must be rectified by the next Parliament.
Ironically, it is the politicians who postponed the last local government elections for more than two years, and rendered the Provincial Council system inoperative by changing the election laws in the most undemocratic manner, in 2017, who are trying to have the dissolved Parliament reconvened. What the government was planning to do was the electoral version of a blitzkrieg. The UNP suffered a debilitating split with the Sajith faction choosing to go it alone at the parliamentary polls, as the Samagi Jana Peramuna. The government wanted to make the most of the situation by facing a general election before the end of April, but its plan went pear-shaped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which gave the UNP and its rebel group some respite, but never the twain shall meet; they have crossed the Rubicon. They will have to contest separately, sooner or later, causing a split in the pro-UNP vote much to the advantage of the SLPP.
The government is taking a huge gamble. There is no guarantee that there won’t be a second wave of infections after the country is reopened. No sooner had it announced its decision to relax curfew than 15 coronavirus infections were detected, yesterday. If the situation improves, the government will be lucky. But it will be ruined politically if coronavirus returns with a vengeance. However, the EC will have to reveal whether it will decide on a new date for the general election or not.
Meanwhile, the general consensus is that it should be left to medical experts to decide when the country should be reopened. The government stands accused of playing politics with the current national health emergency, but the question is who, in the opinion of the EC, should give the all-clear for it to commence the process of conducting the general election? Does it think the law allows it to use its discretion to decide whether the public health emergency is over or not?
The government and the Election Commission (EC) have been playing ping-pong on a crucial national issue, for the last couple of weeks or so; they refuse to decide when the postponed general election will be held. They keep shifting the onus for doing so to each other. Their wrangle has left the public confused.
The EC, recently, went so far as to ask President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to seek an opinion from the Supreme Court over the issue. The government rejected its request out of hand. Giving reasons for its decision to call for invoking the consultative jurisdiction of the apex court, the EC wrote to the President that there were no signs of the Covid-19 crisis being over until the end of April. It wouldn’t be possible to meet the constitutional requirement that the next Parliament commence its sitting latest by 2 June 2020, the EC said. Its call has given a big fillip to the Opposition’s campaign for having the parliamentary polls further postponed and the dissolved parliament reconvened.
In what may be considered a surprising move to wrong-foot the EC, the government has decided to commence the process of reopening the country with effect from today. The ball is now in Polls Chief Mahinda Deshapriya’s court. The EC is planning to have a special meeting shortly to discuss the latest development, according to media reports. However, the EC members are not speaking with one voice.
One of the most serious flaws in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution is that all three members of the EC have to be present for the commission meetings to be quorate, and a single member can cripple the entire institution by absenting himself so that no crucial decisions can be taken. A dispute between two EC members can plunge the electoral process into chaos. No constitutional remedy is available, thanks to the badly drafted 19th Amendment. This flaw must be rectified by the next Parliament.
Ironically, it is the politicians who postponed the last local government elections for more than two years, and rendered the Provincial Council system inoperative by changing the election laws in the most undemocratic manner, in 2017, who are trying to have the dissolved Parliament reconvened. What the government was planning to do was the electoral version of a blitzkrieg. The UNP suffered a debilitating split with the Sajith faction choosing to go it alone at the parliamentary polls, as the Samagi Jana Peramuna. The government wanted to make the most of the situation by facing a general election before the end of April, but its plan went pear-shaped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which gave the UNP and its rebel group some respite, but never the twain shall meet; they have crossed the Rubicon. They will have to contest separately, sooner or later, causing a split in the pro-UNP vote much to the advantage of the SLPP.
The government is taking a huge gamble. There is no guarantee that there won’t be a second wave of infections after the country is reopened. No sooner had it announced its decision to relax curfew than 15 coronavirus infections were detected, yesterday. If the situation improves, the government will be lucky. But it will be ruined politically if coronavirus returns with a vengeance. However, the EC will have to reveal whether it will decide on a new date for the general election or not.
Meanwhile, the general consensus is that it should be left to medical experts to decide when the country should be reopened. The government stands accused of playing politics with the current national health emergency, but the question is who, in the opinion of the EC, should give the all-clear for it to commence the process of conducting the general election? Does it think the law allows it to use its discretion to decide whether the public health emergency is over or not?
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