Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told Parliament yesterday that the government will act on the Local Government elections according to the election laws and will not deviate from this law under any circumstances.
He said this in response to a question raised by the opposition in Parliament yesterday whether the local government elections will be held in March next year.
The Prime Minister said that although the Opposition is so hurry, things cannot be done in a hurry.It will be dealt with according to the law and the government will take required steps at correct time,”he added. Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who is also the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee to amend the electoral system, said that after a long discussion, some legal drafts have been prepared and submitted based on the recommendations given by the Committee.
He also stated that some drafts are being studied by the Elections Commission. Therefore he urged the opposition stay clam without panic because the Election Commission also has a certain powers in this regard. This is still September and it is too early to come to a conclusion. “The Parliamentary Committee on election reforms has been working for a long time and has presented many recommendations. The draft law on those recommendations has been prepared and presented.
The Commission is still studying some of the drafts. Therefore, we have no problem with this process. Still we are in September. Therefore, everything will be done on election laws and nothing will be done outside the law.
The Opposition is in turmoil today. That’s why I clearly said that we will act according to the law. We have also assigned certain powers to the Elections Commission. Therefore everything cannot be done at once. We have to stay calm and follow the rules.”
