The public consultation of election law reforms is a democratically healthy course of action, Rohana Hettiaarachchi, Executive Director of the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said yesterday (23).
“As an election monitoring organization, we believe that the decision of the Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to look into the electoral and electoral structure and reforms to take a public consultation is the best course of action. There is no doubt that the electoral structure as well as the legal provisions relating to elections need to be amended to suit the current political context. There is an urgent need to formulate new legal provisions covering all sectors to ensure equitable competition, especially if the exercise of suffrage, an element of people’s sovereignty, is to be exercised without hindrance or influence,” Hettiarachchi noted.
Accordingly, citizens and organizations seeking a positive change in the electoral system will have the opportunity to submit proposals and ideas for electoral reform and submit those proposals in writing or by e-mail to sec.pscelectionreforms2021@parliament.lk before June 19, 2021. If public comments or suggestions are made in writing, they can be mailed to: Secretary, Special Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms, Parliament of Sri Lanka, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte.
