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Election Commission to present third strategic plan
View(s):By Ishu Bandara
The Election Commission of Sri Lanka is preparing a third consecutive strategic plan. The first such plan was submitted for 2017-2020, followed by a second for 2022-2025.
Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake said, as with previous plans, they expect to gather suggestions from political parties, election observer groups, retired and former Commission officials, government officers, district secretaries, civil society organisations representing women and youth, as well as media organisations.
Commenting on the proposal submitted to parliament he said: “The strategic plan is an internal roadmap used to guide the Commission’s planning and operations over several years, whereas proposals like advance voting aim to amend or introduce new laws, impacting the electoral process at a national level. The implementation of such proposals depends on Parliamentary debate, approval, and enactment, whereas the strategic plan is mainly executed internally by the Commission based on its administrative powers and available resources.”
“Preparing a strategic plan and submitting proposals are two completely different processes,” Mr Ratnayake explained.
“As a Commission, we have submitted around 42 proposals to the then Parliament, but many of them are still pending. We are now trying to secure approval under the new government as soon as possible,” he added.
When asked by the Sunday Times about the new strategic planning process, former Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said: “I also intend to offer suggestions to the Commission in formulating the upcoming plan. It should also be noted that the Commission’s authorities have consistently urged the government to
implement the proposals that have already been forwarded
to Parliament.”
Election observers play a crucial role in contributing to the strategic plans submitted to the Election Commission.
When asked about this, Manjula Gajanayake, Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES), said: “As an election observer, I was pleased to see the Commission initiate this process as early as 2015. Even now, the Election Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL) is working to produce a new strategic plan, and we believe this is a crucial step forward.”
“However, before proceeding, we would like to suggest as observers that an effort be made to assess the real impact of the previous plans. Such an assessment would help us clearly understand what has been implemented and what has not. That said, we remain fully committed to supporting the Commission unconditionally,” Mr Gajanayake emphasised.
He added: “I strongly believe that any reforms, especially electoral reforms, must be initiated during non-election periods. Otherwise, there is a risk that those in power may misuse the reform process as a tool to postpone elections. This is precisely what happened with the local government elections, which were ultimately held only in 2025. Similarly, provincial council elections have already disappeared from the agenda, a situation that unfolded soon after a new bill was introduced to change the provincial council electoral system.”
The Election Commission has been involved in initiating two major electoral reform efforts. The first was through the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform, chaired by then Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. The second was the Presidential Commission on Electoral Reform, led by former Chief Justice and President’s Counsel Priyasath Dep.
Speaking on electoral reform, Mr Gajanayake noted that the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee was released in 2021. In that report, the committee accepted 27 out of 29 proposals submitted by the Election Commission. However, two key proposals were rejected, the introduction of the Right to Recall and the establishment of a dedicated Election Tribunal.
“Despite their rejection at that time, I still believe these two proposals, the Right to Recall and the establishment of an Election Tribunal are critically important. This could be a concrete step forward and can be incorporated into the ongoing reform agenda, and included as a priority in the upcoming strategic planning process, ” he said. “I have been invited to provide suggestions to the Election Commission as a local observer in Sri Lanka. Therefore, I am giving priority to submitting my ideas to the Commission. It is the responsibility of all like-minded organisations and individuals working on electoral matters to participate in this important initiative,” he added.
Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Prof Chandana Abeyratne, commenting about the process of implementing the proposals submitted to Parliament, said “We had planned to meet and discuss the submitted proposals and the process for implementing them on June 17. However, due to unavoidable circumstances, we were unable to attend that meeting. We have now scheduled it to take place at the end of next month.”
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