Sri Lanka’s General Election date likely to change amid legal concerns over timeline compliance

According to government sources, there is a possibility that the date of the general election in Sri Lanka may be adjusted by a day or two.

Legal experts indicate that there is a significant issue with how the election date has been set, referring to Section 10 of the Parliamentary Election Act.

Under this law, nominations were accepted from October 4 to October 11, 2024. The law explicitly states that the election date should fall within a period of no less than five weeks and no more than seven weeks from the last date of nominations.

Therefore, five weeks from October 11 would end on November 15, 2024, while seven weeks would conclude on November 29, 2024.

However, as the currently scheduled election date of November 14, 2024, does not fall within this legally mandated time frame, experts argue that holding the parliamentary election on that day would constitute a violation of the law.

They also warn that this situation undermines public sovereignty.

It is understood that the Election Commission of Sri Lanka is closely monitoring this issue.

In light of the situation, sources indicate that the parliamentary election date is likely to be changed after obtaining legal advice.

Consequently, a new gazette notification with the updated date will need to be issued.