Any candidate violating expenditure act to face disqualification in presidential poll: Sri Lanka EC

Colombo: Any candidate found to have violated campaign finance regulations in Sri Lanka's presidential election can face disqualification, the island nation's election commission said on Monday.

Defying expenditure limitations in the September 21 presidential poll can result in the disqualification of the candidate apart from him/her losing their civic rights for three years, Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake told the media in the central district of Kandy.

The presidential election has come under the campaign finance regulations for the first time since the new act was made into law in January last year.

On January 19, 2023, the Parliament of Sri Lanka passed the Regulation of Election Expenditure Bill, the first framework to regulate “expenditure incurred by candidates” in local, provincial, parliamentary, and presidential elections.

Each candidate contesting the presidential election this year is authorised to incur expenses not exceeding Rupees 109 per elector for election propaganda activities, totalling Rs 1,86,82,98,586 (approx $5 million) per candidate, a gazette notification said on August 16.

The parties must submit expenditure reports to the Elections Commission within 21 days of the declaration of the results.

Ratnayake said voters have the right to lodge a police complaint and proceed to court if candidates are found to have violated the expenditure law.

As many as 38 candidates have been contesting the election with over 17.1 million registered voters eligible to elect a president for five years.