Sri Lanka’s fragile government faces scrutiny over attempt to delay local election
- National government insisted that given the ongoing economic crisis, there’s no money to spare for polls, leading to protests
- ‘The economy has collapsed, everything is unstable. If the franchise is also lost, can we still hold hope for the future?’
The government had initially indefinitely postponed the March 9 poll to elect some 8,711 members of municipal councils, urban councils and divisional councils, claiming it did not have the 10 billion Sri Lankan rupees (US$30 million) required to hold the vote.
President Wickremesinghe had also said in parliament that there had been no proper “quorum” when deciding the date of the elections, since three members of the elections commission had joined the meeting via a Zoom call, making the decision illegal.
“There is no money to hold elections, and even if there is money, there is no election,” he said.
Protests in late February against the poll’s indefinite postponement – led by the National People’s Power (NPP), a small but vocal coalition of socialist parties – drew large crowds nationwide. Last Friday, the government’s detractors received a shot in the arm after Sri Lanka’s apex court directed the administration to proceed with the poll.
