The March 12 Movement led by election monitor PAFFREL will launch a campaign titled “Our Dream President” next month to create a platform for the citizens to speak up as to what qualities a Presidential Candidate should have.
March 12 Movement Convener and People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi told the Daily News that the programme is aimed at strongly communicating to the political parties as to what the people seek in a Presidential Candidate.
He said selected speakers from various segments of the society would be invited to speak at the forum.
“The forum will be open to the youth, academics, students, trade unions, professionals and businessmen etc. We will let their opinions be heard by the political parties. The forum will be conducted island wide. At the end a document will be handed over to all political parties indicating the main points highlighted by various speakers. This will let the political parties to re-think on their potential candidates and field the most suitable Presidential candidate,” Hettiarachchi said. The Presidential Election is due between November 9 and December 9.
In the meantime, Hettiarachchi also said the PAFFREL was contemplating on writing to President Maithripala Sirisena and Political Party Leaders asking not to publicly heap criticism on the Constitutional Council.
“The CC is the hub of all independent institutions in the country. It is the best outcome of the 19th Amendment. If there are problems in it, those must be resolved through closed door discussions. What we can see is that most of those criticisms are aimed at gaining political mileage. This should not happen. The political representation in the CC had to be increased before the passage of the 19th Amendment due to agitation by the same politicians who now complain of it not being independent,” Hettiarachchi commented.
He further said that the March 12 Movement and elections watchdog organisations would also strive to revive the public dialogue on the Campaign Finance Bill shortly to get it passed in Parliament before the upcoming Parliamentary Elections.
The Bill is to set a ceiling limit to the campaign expenditure of political parties and candidates.
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