EC Chief in open conflict with Commission member

An incident of expression of different opinions by the Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya and member of the Commission Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole was witnessed during a media briefing held yesterday at the Commission’s office in Rajagiriya.

When Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole expressed his opinion that the current electoral process in Sri Lanka is an outdated system. But EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya, who shared the same table had vehemently rejected the fellow member’s claim.

Mr Deshapriya had stated that the Professor has no experience in the voting and Election procedures and that his personal opinion could not be translated to be that of the Commission.

He asserted that the Professor had on an earlier occasion published an article in the Media stating that at the forthcoming Presidential Election, no candidate would obtain 50% votes, and the Commission is not prepared to accept his claim. During this Media briefing held at the Commission premises, Prof. Hoole expressed these opinions in response to a query made by a journalist.

He has remarked “The voting system in our country is outdated, and in developed countries of the World the voting is done through the use of Internet whereas, ours is an old system”.

At this point, Mr Deshapriya had taken a strong swipe at the remarks of the Professor and had said “the views expressed by the Professor is not those of the Commission but they are only his personal views. Ours is not an outdated system, I am one who has been involved in Election work for the past 34 years and I am afraid that the Professor has no such experience.

He said further that he accepts collective responsibility and if any member had done any wrong he would not hesitate to accept the guilt on behalf of the Commission and beg their pardon.

Professor Hoole is a person who acts neutrally and I can state with responsibility that he is not partisan to any political party.

I am one who has been involved in Election work for the past 34 years and I am afraid that the Professor has no such experience