Sri Lanka's National Polls Observation Centre criticised the government's proposed 20th Amendment to the constitution, stating that it could lead to "a pool of blood".
"The 20th Amendment to the Constitution, that seeks to give parliament the powers of Provincial Councils, when they are dissolved and to decide on the date of the dissolution of Provincial Councils, is undemocratic," National Coordinator of NPOC Rasanga Harischandra was quoted by Ceylon Today as saying.
"When such undemocratic Bills have been passed, the country has ended up in a pool of blood," he added.
His comments came after local election monitors including Representatives of People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), National Coordinator of National Polls Observation Centre (NPOC), Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) and Transparency International (TI) convened a meeting at Rajagriya to discussed the proposed amendment.
Election monitors have already threatened to take legal action against the government over its decision to delay provincial council elections.
The proposed amendment was criticised by the Executive Director of People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Rohana Hettiarachchi, who was quoted by the paper as saying "not a single MP was properly informed about the provisions of the 20A and that the amendment takes away the powers of the independent Elections Commission, established by the 19th Amendment."
"The independent Elections Commission now has the power to decide on the date on which elections are held. With the 20th Amendment, that power will be taken back by Parliament. This in a way takes back what we achieved through the 19th Amendment," he reportedly added.
The Executive Director of Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon said, "the fact that the Chief Minister of the Uva Provincial Council voted against the Bill is an indication that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) grassroots representatives are not happy with delaying the elections."
"Not only the SLFP, but also the UNP grassroots representatives are unhappy. Uva PC has 14 UNP MPs, however only five voted for the Bill when it was taken up on Wednesday," he added.
