JVP wants general election; not PC or Presidential

JVP MP Vijitha Herath said today what the country needed at this juncture was not a presidential election or a provincial council election but a general election to set up a new parliament by rectifying the current disarray.

He told a news conference that steps should be taken to abolish the executive presidency instead of an extravagant presidential election.

“Those who were bragging about a general election are keeping mum now. If a resolution is brought to dissolve parliament, it should be passed with a two-thirds majority. We are having discussions with other political parties about it. But we can see no interest in the government on this matter. The opposition on its own cannot make up the two-thirds. The government’s support is a must,” he said.

The MP said there had been no final discussion on PC elections at the party leaders meeting other than obtaining views of the political parties on the matter.

“It is up to the government to decide whether to hold the PC polls under the new or the old electoral system. If the PC election was to be held under the old system, a resolution should be brought in parliament to stop the new PC Act,” he said. (Ajith Siriwardana)