Cardinal tells President, govt. officials not to trifle with people’s franchise

By Norman Palihawadane 

Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith yesterday has called upon President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the government and all public officials not to derail the local government (LG) polls.

The President and the government should pluck up courage to face reality instead of trying to deprive people of their franchise, the Cardinal has said in a statement.

Presenting the Cardinal’s statement at the Bishop’s House, Colombo, Spokesman for the Church, Rev Fr Cyril Gamini Fernando said that there was evidence to prove that some public officials were trying to scuttle the elections, scheduled to be held on 09 March.

The statement said that the President, the government and all public officials are bound by the Constitution to facilitate an environment conducive to the conduct of elections. All public officials were also bound by the Constitution to extend their support to conduct the elections, Rev Fr Cyril Gamini said, reading out the Cardinal’s statement.