With the election being declared on June 20, the gazette dissolving Parliament becomes invalid, President’s Counsel and former TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said yesterday.
The June 20 election date delays the poll beyond the June 2, 2020 deadline for reconvening parliament as mandated by the constitution, the senior lawyer and former MP told the political talk show Face the Nation which was a discussion on the need of the hour as the country tries to contain the spread of COVID-19.
“With the decision the Elections Commission made today with regard to the election date, the proclamation dissolving parliament has become ineffective,” the senior lawyer told Face the Nation.
The President is only permitted to make the proclamation dissolving Parliament under the strict condition that the new Parliament must meet within three months, he explained. “I that condition cannot be met for whatever the reason, the President’s proclamation becomes invalid,” Sumanthiran said. Article 70 of the constitution imposes this condition on the President, he added. On the other hand, the Elections Commission may have made their decision based on the Parliamentary Elections Act, which does not impose this condition on the Commission, Sumanthiran said.
In Article 70, the constitution is clear that the proclamation issued by the President dissolving Parliament shall summon the new parliament to meet on a date no later than three months after the said proclamation is issued. Sumanthiran PC explained that while Constitution allowed the President to change the date of the election by another proclamation, but Parliament must still meet by the end of three months after it was first dissolved – in this case on March 2, 2020.
“A constitutional deadlock has arisen,” Sumanthiran asserted.
However, other president’s counsel on the talk show disagreed. Razik Zarook PC argued that the law does not provide for the extraordinary situation that has arisen as a result of the corona virus pandemic. “The constitution is silent and when that happens we have to adopt a doctrine of necessity – we have to make extraordinary decisions,” Zarook PC noted.
Former BASL President and PC, U.R. De Silva argued that even during the height of the JVP insurgency in 1989, elections were still held. “We may have to come up with a different mechanism and decide whether it will be the usual rallies or some other way of campaigning,” De Silva PC said.
FACE THE NATION
Posted by Newsfirst.lk on Monday, 20 April 2020
