The Sri Lankan Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that President Ranil Wickremesinghe violated the fundamental rights of voters by postponing local body elections that were scheduled in March 2023, The Island newspaper reported.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya said that the president, in his capacity as the country’s finance minister, the attorney general and persons who were members of the Elections Commission at the time, were guilty of the violation.

The country’s top court also directed the poll panel to conduct the local polls without further delay.

The ruling will have no immediate legal consequences as Wickremesinghe enjoys immunity while in office, AFP reported.

The decision to delay the March 2023 polls had been challenged by the Opposition and rights groups in the court.

Wickremesinghe, a former prime minister, took over as Sri Lanka’s president in July 2022 through an extraordinary parliamentary vote after Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who held the position at the time, was forced out amid an economic and political crisis. The country declared bankruptcy that month.

The polls were postponed after the Wickremesinghe-led administration maintained that the country could not afford to conduct the local elections at that stage while it was trying to revive the economy.

The poll panel said that the reasons for its decision were beyond its control.

After the ruling on Thursday, Wickremesinghe acknowledged that postponing the polls violated the citizens’ basic rights, but said that he does not regret his decision, Daily Mirror reported.

The president said that he does not regret postponing the elections because maintaining public safety was the priority at the time, he was quoted as saying.

Wickremesinghe explained that if he had devoted the time to conduct the elections, achieving economic stability would not have been possible.

The ruling came ahead of the presidential elections on September 21. Wickremesinghe, contesting as an Independent candidate, is facing a challenge from Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s nephew Namal, among others.

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