The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Sri Lanka’s Election Commission on Monday told the country’s Supreme Court that it does not have the funds to conduct the local body polls that are scheduled for March 9.
According to Bloomberg, the commission’s chief Nimal Punchihewa said the poll body has not received financial resources and the required support from other agencies, including the government printer and police, to conduct the polls.
The lawyers for the commission filed a plea in the Supreme Court citing the inability expressed by the finance ministry to release the funds required, the government printer’s demand of payment in advance for the printing of ballot papers and the reluctance on the part of authorities to enhance the fuel quotas for election work.
Several opposition parties have filed petitions in the court seeking a writ ordering the conduct of the polls. They have claimed that the postponement of the poll was a violation of the public right to vote and accused the government of fearing the polls for the possibility of losing the election.
Sri Lanka’s parliament was adjourned on Tuesday amid protests by opposition members demanded that the polls be held without delay.
According to the news agency PTI, the election to appoint new administrations to 340 local councils for a four-year term has been postponed since March last year due to the country’s ongoing economic crisis.
The Supreme Court would hear a petition calling for the postponement of the election on February 23.
While the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) won the majority of councils in the last election held in 2018, it has suffered major splits since the economic crisis. The party’s leaders have justified the delay by saying that the focus must remain on economic recovery, but opposition parties say it fears a suffering a loss.
“We are out here on the streets today to force the government to hold the local election. We will continue our struggle,” Sajith Premadasa, the main opposition leader, told the protesters.
Activists have also been skeptical of the government’s claim that there is not enough money to conduct polls. Rohana Hettiarachchi, the executive director of poll monitor People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, said that raising funds will not be an issue. “Election monitors are ready to raise funds for conducting the local council elections,” he told the Sri Lankan newspaper The Island.
“If the real problem is a lack of funding, we are ready to start work this week to secure funding for the election,” he said, adding that the government should be not allowed to use the pretext of financial issues to undermine the rights of the people.
“President Ranil Wickremesinghe often talks about the devolution of power, but he has taken steps to ensure that both local and provincial council elections are not held,” he told The Island.
The president has “ensured” that both the provincial councils and the local councils do not have elected representatives, Hettiarachchi said, saying the postponement of polls will set a dangerous precedent.
Sri Lanka was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis in 2022, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948, due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves, sparking political turmoil in the country which led to the ouster of the all-powerful Rajapaksa family.