The Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya says there are not enough regulations in Sri Lanka on political financing and it is harder for the body to monitor and take action on any misdeeds.
He stated this addressing the memorial ceremony of former Director of Monitoring & Review of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), late Ms Thusitha Samarasekara.
Delivering the guest lecture titled “New Trends Adversely Impacting Free and Fair Nature of Elections”, Deshapriya pointed out that there are enough laws to control misuse of state recourses and state power, however, the laws to control political financing are inadequate.
“The Parliamentary Ordinance of 1946 stated that an expenditure report must be produced within a month after an election. […] There were people who lost their civic rights when they produced that report. But today, we don’t have a limit or any expenditure report,” the Elections Commission chairman continued.
Fortunately, President Maithripala Sirisena had presented a Cabinet paper addressing these issues, he said adding that all recommendations are now with the Attorney General. Deshapriya said he is hopeful that these recommendations would be implemented by the next Parliamentary Election.
“Through this, we can also control the use of foreign funds in elections,” Deshapriya stressed.
