Election Commission to go to court if funds not provided

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka has noted that in the event the relevant authorities fail to comply with their fund request required to cover the basic expenses of the upcoming Local Government (LG) election, the matter will be taken to court.Accordingly, Chairman of the Commission, Attorney-at-Law Nimal Punchihewa noted that in the event a favourable response is not received pertaining to the sum of Rs. 770 million requested from the Secretary to the Treasury, the matter will be presented before the court on 09 February.He explained that the funds were requested to cover the basic expenses to be incurred in the month of February, leading up to the 2023 LG election, including the initial payments due to be made to the Department of Government Printing and the Police and Postal departments, in order for them to carry out the preliminary work required to hold the election.Punchihewa noted, however, that the Secretary to the Treasury is yet to respond to the request which was made earlier this month.Although the Ministry of Finance had previously handed over nearly Rs. 37 million to the Commission for the upcoming election, the request for Rs. 770 million was made by Punchihewa in writing to the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, after the Commission noted that an estimated sum of Rs. 4 billion is required for the whole process of holding the upcoming election.The 2023 LG election is schedule to be held on 09 March.