SLPP questions presence of Hoole’s daughter at EC office

By Kelum Bandara  

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) said yesterday it had serious doubts whether the Elections Commission’s member Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole arrived in the election office along with his daughter, who was subjected to quarantine measures, as part of his modus operandi to get the Parliamentary Elections postponed.  

SLPP Chairman Professor G.L. Peiris told a news conference that the staff members of the election office protested the arrival of his daughter.  

He said Prof. Hoole’s daughter had been referred to quarantine measures upon her arrival from abroad. He said her presence would have exposed the workers of the election office to the threat of COVID-19. Prof. Peiris said self-isolation of election employees would burden the Commission discharging duties in view of the General Elections. “We wonder whether this is part of his tactics to get the elections postponed,” he said.  

He said Prof. Hoole had gone to court seeking a postponement of the elections as desired by some parties in the Opposition.