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Nominations date delayed
Wednesday, 31 August 2005 - 7:21 AM SL Time
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The gazette notification calling for nomination for the upcoming Presidential election will be issued towards the end of the week since the bulk of the work regarding the postal vote is yet to be done, Election Department sources told the Daily Mirror yesterday after a meeting between the Elections Commissioner and top officials.
Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake yesterday met the deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners mainly to review the 2005 register and make other plans for the upcoming presidential election.
According to the Presidential Election Act the election should be held between 40 and 63 days after after the date of nominations.
The sources said making National Identity cards mandatory for voting at the presidential election would not be realistic as upto one million eligible voters were known to be without NICs.
They said that in view of the Ramazan fast in October the Elections Commissioner would probably delay the date of nominations so that the polls date would not clash with the Muslim holy month.
They said the polls date was likely to be in the second week of November.
Financial commitments, the number of persons to be employed on election duty, the number of vehicles required and other matters were discussed in detail at yesterday`s meeting. The commissioner instructed the assistant commissioners to minimize the expenditure, the use of vehicles and the counting centres. He said some of the assistant commissioners had been extravagant during the previous elections and told them to minimise expenses this time.
The sources said the commissioner had also decided to ask the treasury to make an allocation from the suspense account and to issue a circular with the estimates of expenditure.
The commissioner will also hold separate meetings with government agents of tsunami-affected areas and the North-East to discuss specific problems that might arise in those areas.
Meanwhile senior minister and Chief Government Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle yesterday expressed concern over the delay of the Elections Commissioner in informing Parliament of the need to move for supplementary estimates to conduct the elections.
Mr. Fernandopulle told Daily Mirror that the delay by Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake to announce the date of nominations and elections had left the government in a predicament.
He accused the Elections Commissioner of failing to present the estimates as he should have done, through the Treasury.
'He should have informed Parliament through the Treasury about the supplementary estimates. He hasn`t done it so far. I don`t know what he will do,' Mr. Fernandopulle said.
The minister pointed out that even if the Elections Commissioner made the request now, the next date for Parliament to sit was September 20 and it would be too late. Mr. Fernandopulle said the Commissioner should have come to Parliament for funds a long time ago.
He said in this situation the only option available to the Elections Commissioner was to borrow from the Treasury.
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