COLOMBO – The Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved steps to draft legislation enabling the country’s expatriates to cast their votes in future elections, Cabinet Spokesman and Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa announced earlier this week.
Currently, Sri Lanka’s election laws only permit citizens residing in the country and registered on the electoral roll to vote. “According to the present law, there is no mechanism to facilitate voting for citizens living overseas, nor has any legislation been formulated in this regard,” Minister Jayatissa told reporters at the weekly post-Cabinet briefing.
Highlighting global practices, he noted that several Asian countries, including India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, already provide voting mechanisms for their diaspora communities. “It has been recognized as a timely requirement for Sri Lanka to amend its laws accordingly,” he said.
To advance the process, the Cabinet has authorized the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Governments to appoint a committee tasked with studying the necessary legal amendments and new regulations. The committee will comprise representatives from the Election Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Employment and Tourism, and other relevant state institutions.
The move marks the first formal step toward recognizing the voting rights of Sri Lanka’s expatriates, a long-standing demand of the country’s overseas community, many of whom contribute significantly to the economy through remittances.
-ENCL
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