“We are prepared to get the election to be held at the due time by carrying out struggles within the Parliament as well as outside it. For, it is a right of the people and we cannot allow this right to be denied due to the internal crises in political parties. Postponing elections and denying the people of their right to vote would have very drastic consequences. We have experienced these in our history. We should prevent such instances. That could be done only by winning democracy – by getting to hold elections. We are prepared to struggle and the first of these struggles would be against Faiser Musthapha. The no-confidence motion would be handed over to the Speaker within the next two or three days,” said the Information Secretary of the JVP Vijitha Herath. He said this speaking at a press conference held at the head office of the JVP at Pelawatta today (23rd).
Mr. Herath said, “The press conference was arranged today to apprise the views of the JVP regarding the situation created by the stay order issued by the Court of Appeal against the Gazette released by the Minister of Provincial Councils. The local government election had to be held 2 ½ years ago. However, it was postponed quoting various reasons. Of course, there was a need to change the old electoral system and there were issues regarding delimitation process. The committee to go into the delimitation process was appointed by the Minister with the approval of the cabinet. The committee headed by Mr. Ashoka Peiris functioned for more than a year and presented a report to the Minister pointing out issues and with recommendations. The Minister should have issued a Gazette notification based on these recommendations. Minister Faiz Musthapha issued the Gazette based on these recommendations. The election has to be held based on this Gazette. In November the Minister also issued the Gazette giving the number of wards and seats for local councils. It was possible to remove all the obstacles that were against holding the election. The government was not genuinely interested in holding the election. However, the election had to be given due to the struggle carried out by our party, civil society organizations and the majority of the people in this country. The UNP, the SLFP or the government were not prepared to hold the election. The strategy of the government was to put off the election as farther as possible. The SLFP wanted the election postponed due to the internal rift in that party. The UNP did not have anything to show to their members. Despite having a government of their own the UNP could not do anything to make the grassroots level members of the party satisfied. As such both these parties wanted the election postponed. However, a stage came up where they couldn’t avoid holding the local government election. All the bills that obstructed having a local government election were amended. The legal obstructions too were removed and the environment to hold the election was created with the mediation of many parties. This is how the Elections Commission announced that a notice regarding nominations could be issued on or after the 27th November, on 11th to 14th December nominations could be received and the election could be held on the 27 or 28th January. It is only after everything had been finalized that the conspiracy making use of the court order was suddenly hatched as the government did not have any other reason to postpone the election. That’s why the government used the legal space to postpone the election. It is a well-planned conspiracy with the knowledge of stalwarts of the government. The case was filed in the Court of Appeal without going to the Supreme Court mainly to waste more time. For, they could go to Supreme Court if the judgment is not in their favour. Then they could waste more time.
The main reason for this move is the crisis within the SLFP. The SLFP, specially the Maithri faction, fears to face an election. However, the UNP has not been able to change this situation despite they are partners of the same government. They join together on the budget but regarding the election, they have two views. It is the government that should be responsible for the people, not the SLFP or the UNP though they jointly form the government. It is the government that should hold elections at due times. It is the government that should be responsible for postponing the election not one faction of the government. No one can point the finger at the other and say they are the ones who have filed the petitions. The government should be able to negate such attempts if it really wanted to hold the election.
The Appeals Committee on the demarcation of boundaries of local government institutions presented their report at the beginning of this year and the Gazette was issued in February. The authority to issue the gazette is Minister Faizer Musthapha. The main argument of the petitioners is that the Gazette issued by the Minister in February is erroneous. The petitioners are associates of the Maithri faction and the petitions have been filed with a plan. The ‘clue’ for the case has been taken from the Gazette the Minister issued with his signature. It is no one else but the Minister who is aware of this ‘clue’. He should be held responsible, as the subject minister, for issuing an erroneous Gazette. Didn’t the Minister know that the Appeals Committee on the demarcation of boundaries didn’t have the authority to decide on the number of wards, merging or demerge them? Mr. Faizer Musthapha is a President’s Counsel. Doesn’t he know the law? He knows the law very well. He knew the functions of the Appeals Committee on the demarcation of boundaries what authority it did not have. When the committee was appointed its functions were known. It is with this understanding that a cabinet paper was presented and approved. If the Committee had exceeded its powers he should have been aware of it. If he doesn’t know the law, despite being a President’s Counsel, he could have consulted the Attorney General’s Department. Usually, AG’s department is consulted in such instances. He has deliberately issued the erroneous Gazette. The conspiracy here is very clear. Petitions are filed in Court in November for the Gazette that was issued in February. If there was an error in the Gazette the Minister has failed to see the error for nine months and has failed to correct it. If anyone wants to genuinely challenge the Gazette he wouldn’t wait until the last moment to go to Courts. It is very clear the move is a maneuver designed by the faction that includes Faizer Musthapha. Their need had been to wait until the last moment and go to Court to get the election postponed. It is Faizer Musthapha and the group that is aware of the ‘error’ that is in the Gazette. As such, he is the creator of the Gazette as well as the mastermind of the conspiracy. It is a serious crime. For, local government election is the right to vote of the people at grassroots level. All local government councils in the country do not function properly at the moment. It is these grassroots level institutions that give the ordinary folk their rights and powers. These institutions are the only means of getting their issues solved. Once they are broken down the people at the grassroots level have no way of getting their issues solved.
On the other hand, postponing elections does not suit good governance. A fundamental of good governance is establishing democracy – to have elections at the due time and give the people opportunity to elect their representatives. As such, this move has shown the government’s unethical and illegal way of getting their own way. This is a drastic attack on democracy and the right of the people to vote. The subject minister has committed a serious crime. Issuing the Gazette knowing there was an error was a blatant crime. When a case has been filed against him the Minister has fled the country. When there is a serious issue the Minister is not there to take any action. Minister Faizer Musthapha, as the subject minister, has neglected his responsibility and has allowed opportunities to file petitions against the Gazette using the ‘clue’ he left deliberately in the content of the Gazette.
As such, the Minister who stole people’s right to vote, who deliberately allowed taking moves to postpone the election should not continue to hold the portfolio. He has no moral or legal right to continue to hold the post. Hence, as the JVP, we demand that Faizer Musthapha should be immediately removed from his portfolio. The President should take this decision. However, we know that the President would not take this decision. For, it is the need of the President and his faction that was fulfilled by the Minister. We believe that the majority of members in the parliament would not approve the arbitrary move of the Minister. He has no right to hold the portfolio. He is a failure as a minister as he issues erroneous Gazettes. As such, we hope to bring a no-confidence motion against Minister Faizer Musthapha for the crime of postponing the election by deliberately issuing an erroneous Gazette. We hope Members of different parties would agree with us and we invite all to condemn the Minister who, despite being a President’s Counsel, is unable to compile a Gazette without errors and who has set in motion a move to deny the voting right of the people in this country.
We are also prepared to get the election to be held at the due time by carrying out struggles within the Parliament as well as outside it. For, it is a right of the people and we cannot allow this right to be denied due to the internal crises in political parties. Postponing elections and denying the people of their right to vote would have very drastic consequences. We have experienced these in our history. We should prevent such instances. That could be done only by winning democracy by getting to hold elections. We are prepared to struggle and the first of these struggles would be against Faiser Musthapha. The no-confidence motion would be handed over to the Speaker within the next two or three days.”
Leave a Reply