TNA Nominee to the National Elections Commission, Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole has not been in good
terms with NEC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya in recent times and this has been evident in
statements Hoole has made to the media. This week, he publicly criticized the commission’s
chairman over the proposed dates for the parliamentary election and several other matters.
The conduct of this particular member of the Election Commission has long been controversial and
he has been accused of favouritism towards TNA on multiple occasions. In the wake of the 2018
constitutional crisis, while being a member of the election Commission, He filed a fundamental
Rights Petition in the Supreme Court challenging then-president sirisena’s proclamation to dissolve
Parliament and called for elections but other two members of the Commission, Chairman Mahinda
Deshapriya and Mr. N.J. Abeysekara didn’t voice any objections because they rightly believed that
it’s inappropriate for them to challenge the President in their role as civil servants and independent
members of the commission.
Prof Rathnajeewan was mysteriously silent when the Yahapalana government had been postponing
local government and provincial council elections by making up false stories as excuses. Besides, he
made several statements in support of the UNP government’s undemocratic political manoeuvres
and justified the continuous postponement of elections. However, In the last week, he was very
quick to tell the international media that SriLanka’s moving towards a dictatorship, after the very
commission of which he is a member of decided to postpone the general election to prevent the
spread of corona epidemic.
Who is hole? whom does he work for?
Hoole is the son of Rev. Richard Herbert Ratnathurai Hoole and Jeevamany Somasundaram. He was
educated at St. John’s College, Jaffna & graduated from the University of Sri Lanka Katubedda
campus in 1975 with a B.Sc degree in electrical engineering. Hoole is a Christian and a member of
the Church of Ceylon. He holds dual Sri Lankan and US citizenships. This brave member of the
current election commission returned to Sri Lanka in 2010 only after LTTE had been defeated by the
Sri Lankan army in May 2009. He seems to be very proud of his US citizenship as On 24th of April, In
an interview with Daily mirror, Mr. Rathnajeewan audaciously said that he was proud of his US
citizenship oath in which he has promised to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the
United States of America.
With the passage of the 19th amendment to the constitution the department of election ceased to
exist and the election commission was established with effect from .2015 .11. 13 compromised of 3
persons including the chairperson. The Election Commission of Sri Lanka is the constitutional
authority responsible for administering and overseeing all elections in Sri Lanka, including the
Presidential, Parliamentary, Provincial and Local Authority elections. With the passage of the 19th
amendment the Appointment of commission members was vested with the constitutional council.
the move was intended to appoint western proxies and political henchmen to important positions
of the government mechanism.
The Election Commission prepares, maintains and periodically updates the electoral rolls, which
show who is entitled to vote, supervises the nomination of candidates, registers political parties,
monitors the election campaign, including the funding and exponential by candidates. It also
facilitates the coverage of the election process by the media, organizes the polling booths where
voting takes place and looks after the counting of votes and the declaration of results.
Hence, It’s needless to elaborate on the dangers Srilanka face when a person who publicly and
proudly claim that he support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America,
is one of three members of the national election commission which is so important to ensure that
elections can take place in an orderly and fair manner. Therefore, it is a timely need to remove
Mr.hoole from the commission and repeal the 19th amendment that paw the way for western
proxies and LTTE apologists to position themselves strategically to become de facto rulers of the
country
The NGO imposed 19 amendment was drafted by those who were used to tinkering with the
Constitution. Maithreepala sirisena himself on a previous occasion had mentioned how this
amendment was drafted by someone who has no knowledge in drafting a constitution and that it
was drafted to suit the needs of various NGO’s. the whole intention of the amendment was to usurp
the President’s powers by separatists and western proxies of the Parliament, although painted as a
rosy picture at the onset
Hence abolishing the 19th Amendment should be a priority after the next general election as it
would provide foreign countries with tools to intervene in SriLankan internal affairs and create
instability in the country irrespective of the person who becomes the President.
Nalin Beligaswatta