Row over police transfers in Sri Lanka

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, OCT. 24. A confrontation is brewing between Sri Lanka's newly-empowered Election Commissioner and the police chief over the large-scale transfers of policemen after the December 5 parliamentary election was announced.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Lucky Kodituwakku, has said that the elections chief did not have a say in routine transfers that had no bearing on the elections. He said the Election Commissioner was empowered to direct deployment of policemen, and once they were deployed, he had the power to control them till the elections were concluded.

But he did not have any powers over policemen who were not assigned to election duties, the Inspector-General wrote to the Election Commissioner in response to a request from him to cancel orders made two days after elections were announced transferring 59 policemen.

The Election chief, Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake, was not available for comment. The 17th Amendment to the Constitution, which was enacted last month, has vested new powers in the Election Commissioner.

Mr. Dissanayake said on Tuesday that with the new powers, he hoped to turn the clock back on unfair practices during elections.

In the absence of ways in which to ensure compliance, Mr. Dissanayake said much would depend on the co-operation of all concerned. ``Everybody should honour and abide by the amendment as the supreme law of the country,'' he said. The opposition United National Party, and its allies who defected recently from the ruling party, said on Tuesday they would take the IGP to court if he delayed or displayed reluctance in complying with the request of the election chief.

Opposition parties have alleged that the ruling coalition is planning to rig the polls. There were several allegations of election fraud in the 2000 parliamentary elections.

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Section  : International
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