Sri Lanka's Costly Parliamentary Election

Sri Lanka will spend 11 billion rupees on its upcoming parliamentary election, surpassing the cost of the recent presidential poll. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has dissolved Parliament 11 months early for the snap election, despite budget constraints. Previous President Ranil Wickremesinghe faced legal issues for not funding local elections.

Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election set for November 14 will cost more than the recent presidential poll, the nation’s top election official confirmed. The upcoming election will require 11 billion Sri Lankan rupees (approximately INR 3 billion), exceeding the 10 billion rupees spent on the presidential election.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who emerged victorious in the presidential elections, dissolved Parliament on Tuesday to prompt a snap election. This dissolution occurred 11 months ahead of the scheduled timeline.

However, the requisite funds for the parliamentary election were not included in the current year’s budget. “The president is legally obliged to provide monies to hold the election even without budgetary allocations,” said election official Saman Sri Ratnayake.

The prior president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had intended to hold the parliamentary election next year, coinciding with the stipulated schedule. As finance minister, Wickremesinghe had allocated funds solely for the presidential election this year. In early August, the highest court ruled that Wickremesinghe had violated voters' fundamental rights by refusing to allocate resources for the 2023 local council elections.

Wickremesinghe, who took office in 2022 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation, prioritized economic recovery over holding local elections due to a financial crisis. On Tuesday, President Dissanayake appointed a four-member cabinet, including himself, and Harini Amarasuriya was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. The Election Commission has announced that the voter registration list used for the presidential election will be utilized for the upcoming general election.

(With inputs from agencies.)