Mixed reactions in Parliament to the obligatory use of ID cards at elections
[August 19, 2004 - 10.30 GMT]

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms presented its interim report in Parliament on January, 23 this year. The Select Committee was chaired by Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who was then an opposition Parliamentarian. The all-party Committee recommended a Mixed Electoral System combining Proportional Representation and first-past-the-post systems.

The Committee proposed to make the National Identity Card (NIC) mandatory for voters to prevent large scale vote rigging. Among the other suggestions was an electronic voting system to facilitate early release of results. Another view was that the elections should be conducted on Saturdays.

Referring to the compulsory requirement of the ID card Mr. Gunawardena told media in Parliament   “The Department for Registration of Persons have promised that they will issue NICs within six months in line with the New Citizenship Act".  Gunawardena added that most political parties have endorsed the proposals. 

The then Minister of Power and Energy Karu Jayasuriya endorsed the proposals. He said “We have combined the good features of the Proportional Representation and first-past-the post systems. We can brush up the electoral list, making the NIC mandatory in order to remove instances of forgery. Jayasuriya was of the view that “the total cost of the election can also be reduced to a great extent with the electronic voting system”.

However, five months down the road there appear to be mixed reactions from the main opposition UNP on the Government’s efforts to make national identity cards compulsory for voting. It is reported that the well respected former Minister Karu Jayasuriya too has had a change of heart.

While the UNP which was much in favour of this move has now adopted a different stance. Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a constituent party of the opposition has assured its support for the proposed Bill. The UNP has requested time to study the Bill which would result in a lengthy debate. The UNP claims, a number of rural voters do not posses a National Identity Card.

The Government’s response is that arrangements will be made to issue identity cards to all eligible citizens within six months.

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Last Updated Date: August 19, 2004  - 10.30 GMT.