Sri Lanka postpones parliamentary polls over coronavirus outbreak

Sri Lanka on Thursday indefinitely postponed parliamentary elections that were scheduled for next month in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Chair of the Election Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya, said the polls scheduled for April 25 cannot be held as planned due to the prevailing situation over the coronavirus outbreak in the country

“The new date will be announced after March 25 and depends on how quickly the virus can be tackled," Deshapriya told reporters.

The Election Commission accepted nominations from political parties and independent groups to contest the April 25 election to appoint a new parliament of 225-members.

Over 16 million people are eligible to vote.

The election was called by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on March 2, six months ahead of the schedule.

Since Sri Lanka’s detection of its first COVID-19 case two weeks ago, the island nation has been struggling to cope with the growing threat. There are over 50 confirmed cases with over 200 people being hospitalised.

The country has closed its international airports and has announced partial lockdown to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

The government on Wednesday imposed a curfew in the Western coastal areas - identified as one of the hotspots where the deadly coronavirus was at risk of spreading.

Police said that around 1,500 people had evaded quarantine and they are believed to be in the region.

President Rajapaksa refused to order a total lockdown of the country and seemed keen on holding the election as scheduled on April 25 despite growing sentiment to postpone it.

He had been hoping the elections would give his party a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Special four-day holidays announced last Monday to minimise crowd gathering and to promote social distancing was on Thursday extended until the end of next week.

In view of the rising number of the novel coronavirus cases globally, Sri Lanka on Tuesday suspended all international flights arriving in the country.