Monitoring groups urge Finance Ministry to release funds for LG polls

A collective of election monitoring organisations have written to the Ministry of Finance, urging to release the funds required by the Election Commission to hold the 2023 Local Government (LG) election.
 
In a letter addressed to the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, the group highlighted that as per the previous requests made by the Commission, the Parliament has already allocated money for the 2023 LG election. 

Accordingly, they requested that the necessary funds, which have already been approved by the Parliament through the 2023 Budget, be released to the commission immediately, enabling them to proceed with the due process. 

The group noted that while the commission is statutorily bound to conduct the election as per Article 104b of the Constitution, it is also the duty of all state institutions and government officials to comply with the directives of the commission in this regard, as per Article 104b (2). 

Moreover, it was noted that as per Article 104GG (1) of the Constitution, any public officer who refuses or fails to cooperate with the commission pertaining to the enforcement of any law with regards to the holding of the election, without any reasonable cause, shall be guilty of an offence. 

Thus, the collective, comprising of the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES), Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), Mothers and Daughters of Lakbima (MDL) and the National Polls Observation Centre (NPOC), urged the Ministry of Finance to release the relevant funds, stating that the elections were fundamental element of the people’s sovereignty.