The presidential election, scheduled for September 21, is a highly significant event as it will determine the next president of Sri Lanka.

This election is taking place during a time of numerous challenges, including economic difficulties, with a total of 39 candidates initially running for the election.

However, one candidate has passed away, bringing the current number of candidates to 38 for the 2024 presidential election.

An obstacle to choosing the real winner in the presidential election

All citizens should have the right to vote to ensure a fair presidential election. Election monitoring organisations stress that individuals in personal services, including foreign workers, prison inmates, hospital patients, journalists, and security personnel, should also be granted voting rights.

Mr. Rohana Hettiarachchi, Executive Director of the PAFFERAL organisation, stated that despite requests for a systematic program to enable their voting rights, no proper intervention or action from the authorities has been observed.

It has been disclosed that because the required legislation for allowing foreign workers and prisoners to vote has not been enacted, more than 3 million votes cannot be cast in this year’s presidential election.

This is significant enough to hinder a valid referendum. Out of the 17,000,000 (seventeen million) eligible voters, the inability to cast 3 million votes is a serious issue.

Parliament’s defaulted responsibility

The responsibility of enacting relevant laws in this regard is assigned to the Parliament. However, the failure to enact these laws and regulations violates the fundamental rights of a significant percentage of the country’s people.

Chairman of the Election Commission, R.M.A.L., stated that neither the Parliament nor the authorities have shown any interest in enacting the necessary legislation to confirm the voting rights of foreign workers and prisoners.

Mr Ratnayake has also mentioned that despite continued lobbying for the required legal reforms to confirm the right of prisoners and Sri Lankan citizens living abroad to vote on election day, Sri Lanka has not made any progress.

Amendment to the trash bin

The upcoming presidential election of 2024 must be conducted according to the current legal framework. However, approximately 3 million voters have lost their right to vote.

The Election Commission and other entities have suggested various methods to address this issue and ensure everyone has the right to vote.

Unfortunately, the Parliament has not enacted legislation to address this matter. The members of Parliament have not addressed this issue effectively, as proposed amendments have not been acted upon for many years.

As a result, the upcoming presidential election will proceed within the existing legal framework due to the Parliament’s lack of clarity and action.

Two selection committees that met for only three days

Sri Lanka has a history of protecting the right to vote, but there is a problem with the lack of timely measures.

Although election authorities and various organisations have intervened positively, there is a lack of support from the government and Parliament. Manjula Gajanayake, Executive Director of “Ires Organisation”, has highlighted that the Sri Lankan community abroad exceeds 3 million people.

Gajanayake noted that a selection committee in Parliament was established in 2016 to facilitate their voting, but it only met once.

The committee appointed after that has only met twice. In the last general election, 22,800 prisoners were disenfranchised. Proposed legislation to establish a particular prison voting centre has not been passed, preventing prisoners from exercising their right to vote.

A struggle to be launched continuously

Between 3 to 4 million people in Sri Lanka miss the opportunity to vote in every election due to factionalism and opportunism in the Parliament, despite efforts from Election Monitoring Organisations and the Election Commission to find solutions.

The loss of voting rights to a large proportion of citizens has been a long-standing issue. Rohana Hettiarachchi, the Executive Director of the Pafferal Organisation, emphasises that discussing this situation only during the election period is not productive.

He believes that giving everyone the right to vote is a matter that should be addressed every day, and reforms should be implemented through legislation. Hettiarachchi urges every organisation and individual to rally to fight for these changes.