“I never said Treasury has no money for election”: Treasury Secretary tells COPF

Secretary to the Treasury Mahinda Sirwardene reiterated he never said Treasury didn’t have funds for the Local Government Election at Committee on Public Finance (COPF).

COPF Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva tweeted that Siriwardene told the committee that he only said finding funds was very difficult, like for everything else, but the money could be found if necessary.

Siriwardene submitted an affadavit to Supreme Court that the Treasury will find it extremely challenging to find additional resources for an election, as only Rs 18 billion per month is left for Government expenses, Ceylon Today reported.

Siriwardene submitted the affidavit in connection with the Petition filed by Colonel (Retired), W.M.R. Wijesundara, seeking an order suspending the holding of the Local Government Elections in March 2023.