General elections in late April or early May, polls chief tells President

National Elections Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya has told President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that parliamentary elections could be held either in late April or early May.

He is learnt to have conveyed this in a letter. This was after President Rajapaksa had a meeting with Mr Deshapriya days before he visited India.

Among the dates suggested, the Sunday Times learns, are April 25, May 9 and 16. May 2 has been left out since it is just the day after May Day and would hinder arrangements being made.

In terms of the Constitution, a dissolution of Parliament by the President is possible after March 2. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution prevented the President from dissolving Parliament prior to a minimum four and a half years term unless two-thirds of the House voted for its early dissolution, the Prime Minister resigned, or a no- confidence motion on the Government was passed.

From March 2, 55 days would have to be allowed for the conduct of a general election.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has agreed to put the issue of the post to the UNP parliamentary group tomorrow ( Monday) after talks with party deputy leader Sajith Premadasa and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Friday. He has indicated he is willing to step down from the post if the party can come up with a succession plan.

This is the 'honeymoon' period for a newly elected first term President, still riding the wave of popularity from the election victory of November 16. Even the media are expected to give the new President time to settle down, and some leeway to carry out his campaign promises and fulfil the expectations of his new office. This is not, however, to say that no comments ought to be made on the performance of the new administration during this period.

One of the eyebrow-raising issues, however, was the order to transfer a key investigator from the Criminal Investigations Department to 'Siberia' as it were, and then to ban 700 CID officers from leaving the country. This is directly related to the investigations of President Rajapaksa himself and others in the then Opposition by the Financial Criminal Investigation Division ( FCID) and the CID. The probes had been termed a 'witch hunt' and now a crisis has arisen over the departure of a detective to Switzerland seemingly with incriminating documents.

The President has already expressed his frustration at being straitjacketed by the various independent Commissions. He asks why he cannot make his own pick for postings. He knew before he contested that these Commissions exist. They were brought about to rein in authoritative Executive Presidents of yesteryear from turning into dictators, and the people welcomed them.

It was an independent Commission which, after all, ensured his election. And from what it seems, the National Police Commission has rubber-stamped the transfer of the CID sleuth with nary a fuss.

The ban on the CID officers leaving Sri Lanka is to lock the stables after the ‘horse’ (with the documents) has bolted. A diplomatic incident has ensued. But is this a signal that all pending cases on former Opposition front-liners, now in power and place, are going to be dropped on the argument that they were all "arbitrary”.

Proposed laws to exculpate public officials if they acted in "good faith" are going to stretch the interpretation of the phrase. It could also lead to allowing the officials to do as their political masters so please without standing up to them and pointing out wrongdoings.

Hopefully, the diktats to the CID should not be read as a purge of officers, most of whom were just doing their job, like what happened in the Army after the 2010 Presidential election nor an indicator that the allegations of corruption during the pre-2015 period are going to be swept under the carpet. That would mean to demoralise the CID and turn it into a launderette, whitewashing all the corruption of the past.