Nominations for the presidential election are set to be accepted only in mid-August, not earlier, with the announcement of the exact date to be made in the coming week, Election Commission sources said yesterday.

Accordingly, the election is now expected to be held on September 21, instead of October 5 or 12, as earlier indicated. Constitutionally, after the announcement of the elections, nominations should be received within 16 to 21 days, and elections should be held within 28 to 42 days, thereby giving the Commission a maximum of 63 days to conduct the poll.

Political parties, election monitoring groups and civil society groups have stepped up their campaigns, calling on the Election Commission to announce the day of nominations as early as possible. The Commission, since last Wednesday (July 17), has been empowered to make an announcement about the day of the nominations.

Elections Commissioner General Saman Shri Ratnayake told the Sunday Times that political parties and other groups should refrain from demanding an early declaration of elections as it could be seen as an interference in the Commission’s activities.

Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Ratnayake told the Sunday Times that the nominations for the election would be called for “in the next few days”, with the arrangements well underway for the conduct of the polls.

He said in the latest of a series of meetings with officials, he met with Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena and Treasury officials on Wednesday, where an assurance was given that the allocation of Rs 10 billion would be released in keeping with the requirements.

He said that it was pointed out at the meeting that expenses could be doubled compared to the previous presidential election.

Meanwhile, the Elections Commission has requested Police Chief Deshabandu Tennakkoon to draw out a security plan for the nomination day and the campaign period leading up to the election. The Commission has also requested a plan regarding the deployment of police personnel and vehicles.

A cabinet paper was submitted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe this week on increasing the personal security of candidates for the upcoming presidential election. Accordingly, approval was granted to appoint a committee to oversee the personal security arrangements of the candidates. The committee consists of the Public Security Ministry Secretary, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Inspector General of Police, the Chief of National Intelligence, and the Senior Deputy Inspector General in charge of elections.

(sundaytimes.lk)
(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by sundaytimes.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)