National People’s Power (NPP) prospective candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake started his Presidential Election campaign yesterday (28) following a procedure that has not been followed by a candidate in any Presidential Election since the inaugural presidential election in1982.
Marking a unique occasion in Sri Lankan politics, nurses had come to the NPP leader’s meeting at Maharagama National Youth Service Council in their uniforms, while on duty leave and using their free travel permits to attend the event.
Eight Presidential Elections have been held in Sri Lanka so far and this new trend by the NPP candidate has not been followed by any candidate who contested at those Presidential Elections.
It is prohibited for public servants to engage in political activities while wearing professional uniforms, and Sub-section 2:1 of Chapter xxv of the Establishments Code states that public servants can only participate in this manner at the annual conference of their trade union.
In spite of this, NPP Presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake has started to make a change in the existing system, compelling government employees dressed in official clothes and on duty leave to attend his meeting while using free travel permits.
The nursing service professional uniform is a privilege given to the profession at the expense of public money.
In such a situation, the use of that uniform for political purposes is a violation of the Establishment Code and the election law, but the NPP had followed a system that did not exist until now and has introduced their system change at the beginning of the election campaign.
Addressing the meeting, NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that he is ready to lead the country on a new transformational path.
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