New powers under 19A: Polls chief warns public officials, candidates

Sunday, 28 June 2015

As political parties begin their campaigns for the general elections on August 17, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya warned yesterday that any public official who allowed the abuse of state resources at the elections could be jailed for up to three years or fined.

Addressing a news conference at his office, the Commissioner pointed out that under the 19th Amendment more powers had been vested in him. He told public officials “It is better to do your work properly than face punishment.” “We don’t want to punish any official but we will remind them of their responsibilities under the Establishment Code by which they are bound,” he said.The Commissioner told officials that if they were found to be favouring any political party, he would not accept the excuse that they were acting on “orders from the top”.

“We are asking them to do the right thing. We will take this message to public officials serving all over the country ahead of the elections,” he said. Mr. Deshapriya said no police transfers could take place without his approval after July 6, the day the nominations begin. He requested that police transfers be stopped immediately.

The Commissioner also said no new projects other than those already scheduled should be started and candidates should refrain from handing out gifts to voters to induce them to vote in their favour.

Mr. Deshapriya who retired from service this month at the age of 60 will continue in office as the Commissioner of Elections until an Elections Commission is constituted under the provisions of the 19th Amendment.

Parliament was dissolved by President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday night and elections are scheduled for August 17. Nominations will be received between July 6 and 13 while the new Parliament will meet on September 1.

“A general election is a more complicated process. There are hundreds of candidates and the counting process takes several days,” he explained.

He said the elections were being held within the minimum number of days stipulated under the Parliamentary Elections Act, with fives week given for campaigning from the closing day of the nomination period. “We have sent the nominations papers to the Government Printer and will have them ready by Monday. The period for independent candidates to make deposits is for a week starting from June 29 to July 3.” he said.

The Commissioner said political parties should desist from fielding proxy independent candidates with the intention of getting more coverage in the media or having more elections offices. “We will not allow the campaign of independent candidates to be used to promote other candidates,” he said.

The Commissioner also asked candidates to refrain from using the national flag or religious flags or symbols during their campaigns and not to use places of religious worship for election-related activities.

He said under the 19th Amendment, while he had control over the activities of state media institutions during election time, he had no such control over private media institutions other than issuing guidelines which he hoped they would follow voluntarily.
“This is a bit like asking the CTB buses to follow road rules and allowing the private buses to break the rules — and hence we hope the journalists and their institution heads will assist us so the same set of guidelines can be followed,” he added.

The Commissioner said the Department’s theme for this year is “the vote is your right; the vote is your voice ,so vote without any fear.” “It is not important who you vote for but what is important is that you go and cast your vote. We will ensure that it is counted correctly and the result is announced,” he added.

Rs. 4 billion for polls
The cost of holding the parliamentary election will be around four billion rupees, up from around three billion spent for January’s presidential election, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said.

The costs would include payment to officials on election duty, transport and printing.
He said the cost would have been even more, if not for the slashing of fuel prices in January this year.

Courtesy - http://www.sundaytimes.lk