Election Commission (EC) Chairman R. M. A. L. Rathnayake yesterday said the EC will set the date for the forthcoming Presidential Election by the end of this month. The candidates for the PE must declare their election expenditure for the first time at this election, he said.
The election canvassing financing regulations introduced last year under the Election Expenditure Act of 2023, which was not applied due to the last election being postponed, will be fully enforced at this election, Rathnayake told the Sunday Observer yesterday. This will help reduce unethical ways of fundraising and make the candidates more accountable to the voting public.
The much anticipated PE will be held between September 16 and October 17 this year, he said.
Asked if the Government Printer is ready for the election, EC Chairman Ratnayake said that they discussed the holding of the election with the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Postmaster General, the Government Printer and other relevant parties last week.
“They are fully prepared and expressed their readiness,” he said.
Asked if the Finance Ministry had allocated funds for conducting the polls, he said the Finance Ministry had allocated Rs.10 billion for the PE from the 2024 Budget. He said the EC officials will meet key officials of the Finance Ministry this week to discuss funding arrangements. The EC will also speak to the media about the organisation of the election during this week, he added.
Meanwhile, all doubts on the Presidential term (five years) have been cleared with the latest verdict of the Supreme Court. However, it has been suggested that this be enshrined in domestic legislation to avoid any ambiguity with certain other sections of the Constitution.
