Sri Lanka's PM calls on Election Commission to fix new election date

<p>Mahinda Rajapaksa, the prime minister, called on the Election Commission to fix a new parliamentary election date, despite threat of coronavirus.</p> <p>Colombo Page<u><a href="http://www.colombopage.com/archive_20A/Apr18_1587233362CH.php"> reported </a></u>that the Prime Minister issued a statement stating that “when the poll cannot be held on the day fixed by the President, the Elections Commission is mandatorily required to fix another day for the poll.”</p> <p>Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections were scheduled to take place on April 25 but were postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.</p> <p>Responding to the PM’s call, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) wrote to the Election Commission urging them to refrain from fixing a new date for the elections as the threat of coronavirus persists.</p> <p>“The conducting of an election will involve large public gatherings, not only on the day(s) of election, but in the lead up to it in the form of campaigning,” the letter said.</p> <p>“Until and unless both local and global health experts clearly indicate that it is safe to do so, conducting an election in the present circumstances will be extremely dangerous and irresponsible,” they added.</p> <p>See the full letter<a href="https://www.tamilguardian.com/sites/default/files/File/TNA/TNA%20-%20EC…"> here</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>