Ranil Wickremesinghe Says That No Election Will Be Held Until The End Of The IMF Program !
In this context, the president’s recent statement that no elections will be held until the IMF programme is completed has caused speculation to grow regarding the presidential elections. An identical story in several newspapers states that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed Cabinet and the Election Commission that there is no chance of holding any election until the economic reforms programme that is being carried out with the International Monetary Fund is concluded. The President has said that the economic reform process done together with the IMF was crucial for the country to progress economically, and therefore, priority should be given to the IMF programme. The President has also said since the IMF programme is in effect until the end of July, no election will be held till such time. This will put to rest the hopes of those who want early parliamentary elections before the presidential election in the hope of cutting their losses in the event that their candidate does not win the presidential election. President Wickremesinghe has said that the presidential election will not be a hindrance to the IMF programme as the time for holding the presidential election comes constitutionally after the process of the IMF programme. According to the news reports the President has informed the Cabinet as well as the officials of the Election Commission to prepare for the presidential election first. This suggests that there will be no early parliamentary elections as lobbied for by a section within the government. The challenge will be to ensure the implementation of the IMF agreement before the presidential elections are called.