COLOMBO – For the first time in the history of Sri Lanka a coin toss will determine which candidate will enter Parliament, if a seat from the Sri Lankan Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in the Ratnapura district becomes vacant, owing to the Attorney General’s ruling that convicted murderer Premalal Jayasekara is “unsuitable to either sit in Parliament or vote in the House”.
Jayasekara, contesting on the SLPP ticket received over 130,000 preferential votes and came second in the Ratnapura district at the August 5 elections.
The Attorney General on Monday (Aug 31) informed the Parliamentary Secretary- General and the Ministry of Justice that Jayasekara cannot take a seat in Parliament or exercise his vote due to his sentencing.
In the event Jayasekara is to be removed from his parliamentary seat, a new MP will have to be selected from among the Ratnapura district SLPP list as a replacement.
However, two candidates from the SLPP, Ranjith Bandara and Sunny Rohana Kodithuwakku, had received 53,261 preferential votes, tying for the spot behind Jayasekara.
Elections Commissioner-General Saman Rathnayake has said, since the next highest candidate from the Ratnapura district is a tie, a toss will take place to decide on the candidate to replace Premalal Jayasekara in Parliament when the need arises.
He has also said that the returning officers in charge of the Ratnapura district will conduct the toss.
The ruling was issued after the Commissioner General of Prisons asked the Ministry of Justice to obtain an opinion from Attorney General Dappula de Livera subsequent to a request from the Speaker of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene, to bring Jayasekara to Parliament to be sworn in.
A statement issued by the AG’s spokeswoman Nishara Jayaratne said the Prisons had said there was no law guiding them on the matter in the Prison Laws.
The statement said that under the law, even though Jayasekara has appealed his sentence only the carrying out of the death sentence is stayed, and he remains a convict.
According to section 91(1) of the Constitution, any person disqualified under section 89 (d) cannot contest elections or even vote as his civil rights are lost when under a death sentence.
-ENCL