Swearing in of 6 SLPPers -- Opposition says EC biased

7 June 2018 09:10 pm

Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has violated the new election laws by allowing six SLPP members to replace the six who were elected to the Maharagama UC under the 'Bicycle' symbol, UNP councillor Dhanushka Ramanayake said today.

He told Daily Mirror the swearing in of six SLPP members was a violation of new election laws.

“Although Mr. Deshapriya said representatives can only be appointed from those in the ward, those who contested under the ‘bicycle’ symbol were outsiders. Among the 25 members elected, 17 were from Badalgama, six from Wellawatte and the rest from Kottawa. None of them were within the Maharagama Urban Council limits. Therefore, this is a clear violation of election laws. According to the new election laws, all members should resign to appoint an outsider to the group and such appointments should be made one by one. Section 65 (a) Clause 5 says the consent of the subject minister is needed for such appointments,” Mr. Ramanayake said.

He accused Mr. Deshapriya of taking arbitrary decisions and thus allowing the SLPP and the independent group to violate election laws and urged the EC to address this matter without delay. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)