By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): The Election Commission has requested Rs11 billion from the finance ministry to get ready for the arrangements to hold the presidential government elections next year.

This request has been made to the finance ministry secretary in writing by the Election Commission, a high official of the finance ministry disclosed.

The Election Commission (EC) has requested the Ministry of Finance to allocate Rs. 11 billion from the Budget for the year 2024 for the Presidential Election to be held next year (2024).

EC Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said that it is a general practice for the EC to request the Finance Ministry to allocate funds from the budget for a particular year if an election is scheduled to be held that year.

Meanwhile the Supreme Court has not yet given a judgement on several cases filed by opposition representatives relating to postponement of local government elections. The hearing of these cases and the issuance of a judgement had been postponed to November 21.

A sum of Rs 9 billion has been estimated for the total expenditure for the election, the commission pointed out adding that it needs about Rs 2.2 billion till the date of the local poll for preliminary spending.

The Balance Rs 6.8 billion is required for fuel, electricity, printing and other relevant services one and half months after the completion of elections, the election commission added.

The government has already spent a massive sum of public money amounting to Rs1 billion for preliminary activities of the postponed local government elections scheduled to be held on April 25 2023 finance ministry records showed.

The cost for the Election Commission to conduct the elections estimated at just over Rs. 9 billion and the printing cost alone was Rs.1.827 billion out of which a sum of Rs.1 billion has already been spent,

A high Official of the Elections Commission stated that the deposits could be refunded only in the event the nominations submitted for the upcoming election are cancelled.

He further noted that in order for the nominations to be cancelled, the government is required to table a Bill in this regard before the Parliament, else, nominations will be cancelled only by way of a gazette notification

In the meantime the members of the Election Commission recently met with the Prime Minister and State Administration Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

They discussed the matters necessary to hold the postponed local government and provincial council elections as soon as possible.

The Commission has requested the Prime Minister to prepare the necessary background for conducting the elections, and the Prime Minister has said that the necessary arrangements are being made.

The Commission has also informed the Prime Minister that due to the postponement of the local government elections, the public servants who have come forward as candidates are facing severe problems.

Colombo (LNW): A strike action will be staged by the Professionals Trade Union Collective in front of the Finance Ministry this (17) afternoon, reports said.

The strike is being organised in response to various concerns, including proposed changes to the government’s controversial tax policy following the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) initial review, Spokesperson for the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe said.

Trade unions have initiated a series of strikes in protest against the government’s taxation policies.

1. Speakers at a “closed-door” IMF event say the IMF set targets in its ongoing SL programme could lead to another default: Veritas’ Dr Nishan de Mel says the IMF must place a focus on governance issues in SL: Transparency International’s
   Nadishani Perera asserts that high levels of corruption hinders SL’s development and calls upon International Financial Institutions to insist on governance reforms.
   
2. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa’s office says the Dept of Pension officials have stated that the Dept will have to face a financial crisis in paying pensions by the year 2028 or 2030.
   
3. Higher Education State Minister Dr Suren Ragavan says his Ministry will “monitor” university hostels at night to prevent incidents of ragging by senior students: Inter-University Students’ Federation & Federation of University Teachers’ Associations say that decision would create turmoil between university students & law enforcement authorities.
   
4. Senior Consultant Physician Dr Ananda Wijewickrama says the potential spread of viral infections can be attributed to the fluctuation in temperature & change in weather conditions: warns that ignoring medical attention could lead to dangerous consequences.
   
5. Elections Commission requests the Ministry of Finance to allocate Rs.11bn from the Budget 2024 for the Presidential Election to be held in 2024: EC Chairman R M A L Rathnayake saye it’s a general practice for the EC to request the Finance Ministry to allocate funds from the budget for a particular year, if an election is scheduled for that year.
   
6. Top Opposition spokesperson Professor G L Peiris says Justice Minister Dr Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe’s attempt to introduce a new system for electing MPs is a “politically motivated project to sabotage national elections”: asserts such an exercise couldn’t be justified under any circumstances at a time the PC and LG polls, too, had been put off indefinitely.
   
7. PM Dinesh Gunawardena calls for a Party Leaders’ meeting in Parliament to discuss proposed amendments to election laws, including a proposal to elect 160 MPs from constituencies and the other 65 MPs through the Proportional Representation system.
   
8. SL’s tourism industry welcomes 50,395 tourists in the first 15 days of October’23: sets a positive trend for the monthly target of 147,789 arrivals: cumulative arrivals for 2023 so far, exceeds 1.06 mn.
   
9. Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith files a Petition before the Supreme Court challenging the Online Safety Bill.
   
10. SL loses its ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Australia by 5 wickets: SL – 209 (43.3overs) K Perera 78: AUS – 215/5 (35.2 overs) Madushanka 38/3.

Colombo (LNW): A proposal is set to be tabled in Parliament today (17) seeking the establishment of a Select Committee to probe allegations made against Sri Lankan authorities and certain politicians in British Channel 4’s programme concerning the 2019 Easter Sunday genocide.

The proposal aims to establish a committee that will examine the validity of claims suggesting ties or conspiracies between the accused officials, politicians, and the terrorists responsible for the suicide bombings, according to the Parliamentary Order Paper.

The committee is also expected to assess the progress of investigations to date and report its findings to Parliament, and to deliver its report within two months from its inaugural meeting.

This motion has been backed by several Ruling Party MPs, including Major Pradeep Undugoda, Sanjeeva Edirimanna, Madhura Withanage, Jayantha Ketagoda, D. B. Herath, and Karunadasa Kodithuwakku.

Additionally, a bill proposing the creation of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation will be introduced in Parliament today.

The parliamentary session is scheduled to begin at 09:30 am under the patronage of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

Colombo (LNW): The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has urged the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to provide a revised electricity tariff proposal by 18th October, due to discrepancies in the CEB’s assumptions.

The PUCSL highlighted deviations in the CEB’s forecasted demand data for September and October 2023 compared to actual figures, according to reports.

The CEB’s predictions on hydro storage for October and November 2023 also differed from current figures, with inflow for early October exceeding estimates.

Additionally, while the CEB’s submissions in May and September 2023 showed differing forecasts for coal dispatch, the PUCSL found the impact of coal dispatch reduction inconsistent with recent data, particularly given a drop in coal price between the two submissions.

In a letter addressed to the CEB’s General Manager, the Director General of PUCSL highlighted that while the CEB had projected a demand of 44.70 GWh/day for September 2023 and an average of 42.88 GWh/day for October-December 2023, the actual demand was 41.01 GWh/day for September and 41.30 GWh/day for October.

Regarding hydro-power, the CEB’s predictions for starting hydro storage levels for October and November 2023 were 503 GWh and 635 GWh respectively, but current hydro storage stands at 668 GWh, with an inflow of 314 GWh from 1st to 12th October, significantly surpassing the estimates, the letter disclosed.

The CEB’s coal dispatch forecasts for October-December 2023 showed disparities between their May and September 2023 submissions, and exhibits a more significant reduction in demand in comparison to the coal dispatch decline, it added, emphasising that with coal prices dropping from 68.6 LKR/kg in May to 52.6 LKR/kg in September, the coal dispatch reduction does not align with the updated data.