Sri Lanka’s election commission chairman Nimal G Punchiheva said the election, if held, would be free and fair only if there is an atmosphere of support for it.
Soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army secure a deserted fuel station in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AP/PTI photo)
Sri Lanka’s Election Commission Chairman Nimal G Punchiheva said on Thursday that the country cannot contest elections until the economic crisis affecting the common man is resolved.
According to the report of the News First web portal, he said that if the election is held, it will be free and fair only if there is an atmosphere of support for it.
Punchiheva said that although the commission has only Rs 5 billion at present, the amount is likely to increase by two to three times. However, he said that money is not an issue but a question whether people queuing for gas and kerosene can take a decision as per their discretion.
Therefore, he said that Sri Lanka will have to go for elections once the economic crisis is over.
“People have become emotional now. We do not know how this will affect the outcome of the election. This may lead to the emergence of different groups of thugs apart from political parties, and it may create security issues at stations,” he was quoted as saying.
Punchiheva said that if elections are to be held now, it will be like the district elections of 1982 and the provincial elections of 1999, which are not needed at the moment.
Sri Lanka has been reeling from unprecedented economic turmoil since independence from Britain in 1948. The economic crisis has sparked political unrest with protesters demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa.
The economic crisis has prompted severe shortages of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuels, toilet paper and even matches, with Sri Lankans outside shops to buy fuel and cooking gas for months. Forced to wait for hours.