28 April 2020 01:05 pm
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is not in a hurry to hold the General Elections and the allegations made by the Opposition to this effect are false, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya Leader and former MP Udaya Gammanpila said today.
Speaking at a news briefing, Mr Gammanpila said the Opposition alleges that the President is in a rush to hold the parliamentary election despite the epidemic caused by COVID19.
"This is a baseless allegation. The first COVID19 patient was diagnosed in Sri Lanka on January 26. She was discharged from the hospital after being full recovered on February 19.
When the President dissolved Parliament on March 2, there had been no patient recorded for 35 days from January 26 to March 2. Hence, he dissolved Parliament to get a new Parliament which will be supportive of the President’s programme.
The second patient was recorded on March 11, nine days after the dissolution of Parliament," he said. He said the election date was fixed as June 22 by the Election Commission and not by the President. "They just performed their legal obligation.
We are now in power. We have our President, Prime Minister and a cabinet of ministers. If the election is held, we will definitely win. Hence, we will be in power with or without holding elections. In such a scenario, why should we rush to hold elections in the middle of an epidemic? I should draw the attention of the public to another point.
The UNP should get the blame for falling parliamentary election during the epidemic. Usually, Presidents dissolve Parliament to get a new Parliament supportive to him. President Gotabaya could not do that because of the ban imposed by the UNP through the 19th Amendment.
After the enactment of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, President is barred from dissolving Parliament until it completes four and half years. That is why the President had to wait until 2 March to dissolve Parliament," he said.