Chethana Gomis
According to the Sri Lanka Constitution, there are fundamental qualifications that a presidential candidate must meet, including age and citizenship criteria. Here are the key qualifications for a presidential candidate in Sri Lanka:
- Citizenship: The candidate must be a Sri Lankan citizen.
- Dual Citizenship: Individuals with dual citizenship are not eligible to contest in the presidential election.
- Age Requirement: Candidates must be at least 35 years old on the date of nomination.
- Term Limit: A person who has served as President twice cannot run for the presidency again.
- Political Endorsement: Under Article 31(1) of the Constitution, a person who meets the minimum qualifications can be nominated by a recognized political party, or if the individual is currently or has been a Member of Parliament, they can be nominated by any other political party or any eligible voter in Sri Lanka.
- Impeachment: Anyone who has been removed from the presidency through impeachment cannot be nominated.
- Parliamentary Disqualification: Individuals disqualified under Article 81 of the Constitution are ineligible to run.
- Criminal Record: Those who have been imprisoned for six months or more within the past seven years are ineligible to be presidential candidates.
- Pardon Exception: Individuals who received an unconditional pardon for their imprisonment are exempt from this restriction.
Additionally, the Sri Lankan Constitution does not stipulate that the Executive President must be a Buddhist. In previous elections, candidates such as G.G. Ponnambalam and M.K. Sivajilingam, who were not Sinhalese, contested in the presidential election. This year, Ariyanethran, a Tamil candidate, is also expected to run as the common candidate from the North.
However, the Election Commissioner, Saman Sri Rathnayake, stated that the Election Department incurs a cost of Rs. 200 million per candidate for the 2024 presidential election. If the number of candidates exceeds 36, the list of candidates on the ballot paper will have to be printed in two columns.
The estimated cost for this year’s presidential election is Rs. 10 billion.
