{"id":101492,"date":"2020-04-23T23:03:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T06:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=101492"},"modified":"2020-04-23T23:04:27","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T06:04:27","slug":"can-sri-lankas-elections-commission-confirm-no-dual-citizens-have-filed-nominations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/04\/23\/can-sri-lankas-elections-commission-confirm-no-dual-citizens-have-filed-nominations\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Sri Lanka\u2019s Elections Commission confirm NO DUAL CITIZENS have filed nominations?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-24-at-11.13.06-AM-1024x272.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-101493\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Article 92(b) and Clause 20(4) of the 19a and Article\n91(1)(d)(XIII) of the Constitution <\/strong>says persons who are dual citizens are\nDISQUALIFIED from being elected as MPs or the President. If this is so the onus\nis on the Election Commissioner to ensure no MP submits nominations withholding\nthat they are dual citizens. Has there been any nominations submitted declaring\nthe contestant as a dual citizen. If so, Election Commission has to reject his\/her\napplication. However, what is the election commissioner\u2019s solution to those\nwithholding that they are dual citizens and submitting nominations and\nElections Commissioner even accepting nominations? How can elections commission\nallow this as it is breaching his task to ensure no dual citizen is elected to\nParliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason to raise this question is\nthat there are continuous allegations that the majority of TNA MPs are dual\ncitizens but functioning in Parliament. How can this happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key members of the TNA were architects\nof the inclusion of the \u2018dual citizenship\u2019 clause in the 19a primarily meant to\nprevent the ruling President from contesting elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If these MPs who went to such trouble\nplugging a clause denying anyone who was a dual citizen from contesting they\nhave to also face the tune. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means no MP sitting in Parliament\ncan apply for dual citizenship so long as he\/she is a Member of Parliament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also means that if anyone wants to\nkeep their dual citizenship status then they have to forsake being a MP. In\nwhich case the TNA MPs who are dual citizens along with any others have to make\na choice \u2013 be a MP or retail dual citizenship or give up Sri Lankan citizenship\nand go live in the other choice of country! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The citizens and voters have every right to know who in\nParliament is a dual citizen.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This question didn\u2019t arise earlier but with the insertion of 19a\n\u2013 we all want to ensure NO DUAL CITIZEN is in Parliament enjoying our tax\npayers money and also enjoying perks in a different country.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone who boasts of upholding the\nConstitution must also come forward to support the need for transparency regarding\ndeclaration of dual citizenship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How do we find out whether TNA MPs or any other MPs are dual\ncitizens?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The contestants\nhave to personally declare so. The only person who did was Geetha Kumarasinghe\nand she lost her seat as a result of personal honesty.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>But who were\nthe others who kept their dual citizenship status hidden? Obviously, the\narchitects of the clause themselves \u2013 this is outright dishonesty. This is very\nunparliamentary of them. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If there is a\nclause that states MPs cannot be dual citizens, then the President is well\nwithin his powers to ask each to declare that they are not dual citizens by\naffidavit. The PM can and should make the same demand. &nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Foreign\nMinistry can also request selected countries to confirm from their records if\nany of Sri Lanka\u2019s MPs are dual citizens. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The\nImmigration dept can also check up on their status <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Defense\nMinistry should also have details regarding this <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If the President had to face a humiliating court case to prove\nhis citizenship, then those hiding their dual citizenship should also face the\nsame tune. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>However, the onus is on the Election Commission and Election\nCommissioner to make this call.<\/strong> The question is why did he not do so?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The commission that talks about\nfollowing rule of law &amp; the Constitution is nicely ignoring that they are\nresponsible for ensuring no dual citizen gets elected to Parliament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ironically, it appears an Election Commission member is also a\ndual citizen. Is this why the team are strategically avoiding the issue of dual\ncitizenship. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If President &amp; MPs who as dual\ncitizens are barred from contesting elections, all public servants who are dual\ncitizens should also be barred. Especially the holier than thou Independent\nCommission members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Elections Commission &amp; Elections Commissioner cannot make a\nmockery out of democracy and the Constitution by ignoring key clauses on dual\ncitizenship which is related to electing MPs under their powers. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>19a was inserted specifically\ntargeting key individuals to prevent them contesting. It was a shallow endeavor\nby people who themselves are allegedly dual citizens. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is now time to come clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Election Commissioner, we want to know if any contestant informed\nthey were dual citizens in their nomination papers and if they didn\u2019t and are\nhiding their dual citizenship status, what action you propose to take against\nthem BEFORE the elections. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You have all the time and means to issue a letter asking nominees to\nreconfirm that they are not dual citizens and in the meanwhile you must\nreconfirm to the voters that everyone contesting elections are not dual\ncitizens. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You cannot be silent and allow dual\ncitizens to contest and not use your department\u2019s authority to find out who and\nwho is not a dual citizen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>By Constitution the Election Commission is bound to ensure no\nperson who is a dual citizen gets elected to Parliament. <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of\nthese \u2018dual citizens\u2019 are attempting various juggernauts to upset the government\nas it grapples to deal with covid-19. The only way to deal with such trouble\nmakers is to question and expose their dishonesty democratically,\nconstitutionally &amp; legally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shenali D\nWaduge<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article 92(b) and Clause 20(4) of the 19a and Article 91(1)(d)(XIII) of the Constitution says persons who are dual citizens are DISQUALIFIED from being elected as MPs or the President. If this is so the onus is on the Election Commissioner to ensure no MP submits nominations withholding that they are dual citizens. Has there [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}