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| Monday, 23 August 2004 |
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NICs within six months by Bharatha Malawaraarachchi Justice and Law Reforms Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne yesterday assured that all those who do not possess their National Identity Cards (NIC) will be given one within six months. "The Government has paid highest priority for this and NICs will be given within six to seven months," Seneviratne said refuting a UNP statement that one third of Sri Lankan citizens would be deprived of franchising if ID cards are made mandatory for voting. "The UNP statement is absolutely false," Seneviratne told the Daily News referring to a statement by UNP spokesman Prof. G.L. Peiris. In his statement, Prof. Peiris had claimed that about one third of citizens do not have valid ID cards and if the possession of these cards is immediately made mandatory for voting, a large segment of the population will effectively be disenfranchised. "This statement is not true. It is true that there are a quite number of people without ID cards - not one third of citizens," Seneviratne said. According to Seneviratne, the number of people who do not possess the NIC is around 500,000. "The Government will take all measures to issue ID cards to those people within six to seven months," assured the Minister. Seneviratne also described that this will be an effort to democratise the election process. "This is the first step towards democratising the election process." Last week, the Minister presented the Elections (Special Provisions) Bill aimed to make the NIC compulsory when voting. The Minister claimed that the Bill was presented in accordance with the recommendations submitted by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms chaired by Dinesh Gunawardene. The Minister also assured that the Bill will not deprive the citizens of their right to exercise the franchise, as they will be allowed to produce an accepted identification document to cast their vote. Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara told Parliament last week that the Supreme Court has determined that the Elections (Special Provision) Bill is consistent with the Constitution. The Bill seeks to make it compulsory for a voter to produce a valid identity document in proof of identity at elections. |
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