Papal visit becomes a headache for president!

 Thursday, 10 July 2014 

The president is paying attention to warnings by his advisors that the visit by Pope Francis XI to Sri Lanka on 14 January 2015 will have an impact on the presidential election due close to that period if he makes remarks detrimental to the president and the government following his tour of northern and eastern provinces, say internal sources at Temple Trees.

The president expects that the papal visit will worsen the situation for him both locally and internationally in the aftermath of the statement made by British Prime Minister David Cameron after his visit to the two provinces while in the country to attend the commonwealth heads of state summit last November and the recent remarks by Dalai Lama. In order to avoid such a situation, he is considering hold the presidential election before the visit by the Pope.

As per the constitution, Mahinda Rajapaksa can call for a presidential election only after 18 November 2014. According to the elections act, within 16 days of announcement of the election, the elections commissioner should call for nominations, and hold the election within 42 days thereafter. The entire process will take up 58 days. Therefore, if the election is announced on November 18, the election should take place on 30 January 2015.

However, his astrologers have strongly advised the president to hold the presidential election before January 15. But, the constitution has come in his way.

Furthermore, it is the papal custom not to tour a country which is due to hold elections. As a result, the president has decided to announce a presidential election before November 18 and obtain an interpretation from the Supreme Court.