New Delhi: Amid calls for postponing the presidential election, the Sri Lankan government says it is firm on holding the polls later this year.
Sri Lankan minister Jeevan Thondaman said the election was on schedule for September or October and there were no plans to push it back. He was responding to comments made by the United National Party (UNP) general secretary Tuesday that the term of the president and parliament be extended by two years. President Ranil Wickremesinghe is the leader of the UNP.
The minister of water supply and estate infrastructure told ThePrint that UNP general secretary Palitha Range Bandara’s remarks had been “clarified by his own senior party members as a private opinion”.
On Tuesday, Bandara had proposed a referendum be held “to extend the terms of the president and parliament” by two years, saying this was necessary as the “country’s needs” did not align with an immediate election, especially after its ongoing economic crisis.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, 75, became the president of Sri Lanka in July 2022, after the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa was elected in 2019 and resigned from office after the island country faced a myriad of economic challenges from low foreign currency reserves to defaulting on its sovereign debt. His brother and then prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down first.
Inflation peaked at about 70 per cent in September 2022, before falling to 1.5 per cent in April 2024. The Sri Lankan economy shrank by 7.3 percent and in 2023 it saw a negative growth of 2.3 percent.
This year, however, the economy is expected to grow by about 3 percent – its first positive growth rate since the crisis began.
The parliament elected Wickremesinghe to see out Rajapaksa’s term and to steer the country back to economic normalcy. India committed $4.5 billion to aid to the island nation’s economy.
India’s assistance helped Sri Lanka receive a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund in 2023.
The Director General of the Sri Lankan Election Commission, Saman Sri Ratnayake, said Wednesday that the presidential election could not be postponed through a referendum.
According to the Sri Lankan Election Commission, the presidential elections will be held between 17 September and 16 October 2024.
ThePrint has learnt that the poll would likely take place between the last week of September and the first week of October, followed by parliamentary elections at a later date.
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Opposition furore
Bandara’s comments have angered Sri Lankan political parties, with various leaders saying the suggestion undermines the island country’s democratic traditions.
Namal Rajapaksa, the national organiser of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), told ThePrint, “Any political leader whether it be from my Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) or any other political party cannot lead a country by stifling the voice of the people. Democratic principles have to be valued and upheld.”
“I do not think this latest announcement by the general secretary of the UNP reflects the views of President Ranil Wickremesinghe as he is a man who speaks about upholding democratic values,” he added.
Rajapaksa made it clear that the SLPP would not support any referendum to extend the term of the president and the parliament.
Senior UNP leader Ravi Karunanayake told Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror that the comments by Bandara were his “personal statement” and not a decision made by Wickremesinghe.
“Leaders cannot prepare the pitch and then decide whether it is suitable to bat or not. The SLPP reiterates that an election should be held, according to the Constitution of the country and the SLPP is ready to face the election, both Presidential and Parliamentary,” Rajapaksa told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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