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ECONOMYNEXT — A civil society activist has lodged a complaint at the Committee to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption against a recent cabinet decision to increase the deposit placed by candidates contesting elections.
Jamuni Kamantha Thushara, Chairman of the Citizen’s Movement Against Fraud, Corruption, and Waste, who filed the complaint, told reporters on Wednesday April 11 that the deposit has been increased by 5,200 percent, which he claimed would give “corrupt” political parties who can afford such exorbitant rates the upper hand.
“With such a high amount, only corrupt political parties that engage in thievery can contest this election. An innocent person who can only manage to pay a small deposit can no longer contest,” said Thushara.
“Only thieving parties will be able to contest elections in the future,” he added.
Thushara also criticised the Commissioner of Elections for his support for the deposit increase citing rising election costs.
“I filed a Right to Information (RTI) request and found that 9.75 billion rupees has been allocated for the 2024 presidential election. The commissioner must note that many of these expenses can be curtailed,” he said.
As Sri Lanka heads into decisive elections, the cabinet of ministers on Monday approved a proposal to increase the deposit placed by candidates representing recognised political parties as well as independent candidates.
The deposit placed by a candidate representing a party has been increased to 2.6 million rupees while an independent party at the presidential election has to pay to 3.1 million.
The proposal was made jointly by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe.
For parliamentary elections, a candidate representing a recognised political party must pay 11,000 rupees while an independent candidate has to make a deposit of 16,000 rupees.
At the local government polls, a party candidate must pay 6,000 rupees as deposit, while an independent candidate has to pay 11,000.
Sri Lanka is still recovering from its worst financial crisis in decades, and the local government elections that were due to be held in 2023 were postponed citing a lack of funds.
The presidential election is due to be held between September 17 and October 18 this year, after which a parliamentary election is anticipated, either at the end of this year or in early 2025. (Colombo/Apr11/2024)
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