SJB challenges EC over alleged inaction on NPP Kesbewa nomination list

Colombo, April 7 (Daily Mirror) - The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) filed a writ and a fundamental rights applications challenging the Election Commission's alleged failure and inaction in respect of proceeding with the nomination list submitted by the National People’s Power (NPP) for the 2025 Local Authorities Election for the Kesbewa Urban Council. 

The SJB alleged in their petition, filed through candidate Tenil Rathnasiri, that a female candidate whose nomination had been accepted was disqualified in terms of the law as she was an employee of the Kesbewa Urban Council during the relevant period one year prior to the nominations. The petitioner said therefore, the nomination list of the NPP as a whole did not meet the mandatory male/female ratio.  Accordingly, the petition alleges that the NPP nomination list is a nullity and that proceeding any further with such a nomination list was a violation of fundamental rights.

On April 4, 2025, the Supreme Court dismissed all other writ and fundamental rights petitions concerning Local Government election nomination rejections for several local authorities. However, the SJB petition was fixed for support on April 28, 2025. The Court further issued instructions for notice to be served, within one week, on all relevant parties, including the Elections Commission.

President’s Counsel Eraj De Silva, with Attorneys-at-Law Janagan Sundramoorthy, N.K. Ashokbaran, and Sanjana Mapatuna, instructed by Dimuthu Kuruppuarachchi, appeared on behalf of the petitioner in both applications. 

The petitioner is the chief candidate of the SJB for the Kesbewa Urban Council in the 2025 local government elections.