News
Nearly all candidates file spending details, but law review mooted
View(s):By Ishu Bandara
A remarkable 97% of candidates—76,350 out of 78,724—filed campaign finance reports to the Election Commission ahead of the deadline at midnight on May 27, marking a significant step toward transparency and accountability.
This outcome defied earlier predictions that the majority of candidates would fail to comply with legal obligations.
Rohana Hettiarachchi, executive director of People’s Action for Free & Fair Elections (PAFFREL), told the Sunday Times: “In a way, I’m happy with the local government submissions. With nearly 79,000 candidates, there was some doubt about whether they would submit their reports. But in the end, the fact that the majority did so is certainly commendable.
“However, I believe the campaign finance law needs to be revisited. Even this time, 2,374 candidates failed to submit their reports, and pursuing legal action against them is no simple matter. It wastes the time of the Election Commission, the police, attorneys, and the judiciary, and ultimately, it’s also a waste of public resources.”
The PAFFREL chief said the campaign finance law must be amended to make the process simpler. Candidates who failed to submit reports should be automatically disqualified, he said.
“There’s no need for lengthy investigations to establish non-compliance. This would save the time and resources of the judiciary, the police, and the Election Commission. Only in genuine cases, where there is a valid reason for the delay, should the matter be taken to court for possible exemption.” Mr. Hettiarachchi said.
He also raised concerns about the accuracy of reports, noting that there was no government mechanism under the existing law to verify them. “If the law is not properly implemented, no one will take it seriously,” he said.
“If the police fail to take action and the courts cannot hear the cases within a reasonable timeframe due to the judiciary’s already heavy workload, the entire process loses its credibility.
“When I had the opportunity to observe elections in other countries, I saw that their election commissions had dedicated standing committees to review campaign finance and directly disqualify non-compliant candidates. We can adopt a similar system here to ease the burden on the judiciary and ensure more effective enforcement.”
Manjula Gajanayake, executive director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES), said most candidates have shown respect for the law by submitting their reports. “If the Sri Lanka Police fail to take any legal action against those who violated the law, candidates may stop taking the requirement seriously in the future, as they will no longer fear consequences.”
He stressed the importance of public accountability: “It is crucial that the Election Commission informs the public about the actions taken. Without transparency, the entire process becomes meaningless. If the commission proceeds with legal cases, they must issue press releases and clearly communicate how many cases have been filed and how many have resulted in court decisions.”
When asked, Police said action had already been taken in most cases and that progress reports would be sent to the EC as soon as possible.
However, 13 presidential poll candidates, 1,236 parliamentary election candidates, and 2,374 from the May 6 local council election have not filed campaign finance reports. These are being handled by the police. Some have been finalised, while others are before the courts.
| Nomination lists show old tricks to sign up candidates
According to Sri Lanka Police, handling campaign finance violations is no easy task. Complaints are forwarded to 45 police divisions across the districts. Police must first record statements from the respective district deputy commissioners of elections and then from each of the defaulting candidates. In the recent local government election, 2,374 candidates failed to file reports. This requires the police to collect 4,748 individual statements and prepare an equal number of ‘B’ reports—a highly time-consuming and complex process. As noted by the Sri Lanka Police, noncompliance with campaign finance reporting already poses significant challenges, but the process of preparing nomination lists has further worsened the situation. In some instances, political parties have included names in their nomination lists without the knowledge or consent of those individuals. Some candidates only discovered their names were on the list after receiving letters from the Election Commission asking them to file campaign finance reports. Similar incidents were reported in previous elections, and once again, such stories surfaced during the local government elections. The observers also revealed to the Sunday Times that the names of two Advanced Level students were fraudulently included in a nomination list after being misled into signing by two independent party leaders in an area of the Kegalle District. The students only became aware of this when they received official letters from the EC asking them for campaign finance reports. The students must now visit the police station and attend court hearings, disrupting their studies and sparking a controversial and troubling situation. The observers said, “Now, instead of focusing on exams, they’re running around to police stations and possibly even facing court just to clear their names. What a mess, and all because someone thought it was okay to play politics with young people’s lives—absolutely wild.” Pointing to another similar case from Colombo, they said that a woman working as an office assistant, along with several of her relatives and neighbours, was fraudulently included in a nomination list of an independent political party. They had been misled by individuals who promised them free sewing machines in exchange for their signatures. The situation became controversial when they later received letters from the Election Commission asking for income and expense reports. “Apparently, someone promised them a free sewing machine, but instead of a gift, they got tricked into signing nomination papers. They thought they were getting something useful to support their family, and instead, they ended up as candidates in the local government election,” local government observers told the Sunday Times. | |
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!