The Election Commission informed the Supreme Court yesterday (07) that under the current situation, it has become extremely difficult to take the necessary steps to conduct the Local Government Election properly.
The Election Commissioner General Saman Rathnayake has informed this while giving an affidavit in relation to a petition filed by a group including the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, lawyer Dayasiri Jayasekara, to hold the Local Government elections as soon as possible.
It is stated in the affidavit that on January 9, the Commission requested the Power and Energy Ministry Secretary to take steps to increase the fuel quota for the vehicles involved in the electoral activities of the Local Government Elections and for the electricity generators in the Election Secretariat offices, and Commission was yet to receive a positive response.
Then, on January 23, a written request was made to the Central Bank Governor to provide necessary funds to obtain the necessary fuel and electricity for the election activities, and Central Bank had informed the commission, because of the shortage of foreign exchange, it has become extremely difficult to obtain funds for the related activities.
The related affidavit states that an amount of 10,000 million rupees has been estimated and allocated for the holding of local government elections in 2023 and it has been approved by the Parliament.