An independent Sri Lankan monitoring group on Saturday slammed the Government for offering a Rs 25,000 wage increment for public sector workers saying it would influence the vote at the forthcoming September 21 presidential elections.
The People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has complained towards this end with the Election Commission, the groups spokesman Rohna Hettiarachchi said .
He said the Government was using State authority in taking various decisions targeting the presidential polls in September.
The latest such decision has been the move to increase the salaries of public servants in the run-up to an election and especially after an election has been announced, which will clearly impact their free vote, he said.
Also, the Government from time to time stated that the size of the public service should be downsized. In a situation like this, it is surprising to see a sudden decision to increase the salary by Rs.25, 000, Hettiarachchi added.
When the trade unions demanded a salary increase of Rs.10, 000 even before an election was declared the Government denied it saying no adequate funds to do so.
“It is a serious violation of the Election Law to influence the free vote of the public servants, and we hope that the Election Commission will act on this fast,” he said
The Cabinet of Ministers earlier this week decided to grant a cost of living allowance of Rs.25, 000 to the Government employees and also give a 24 percent raise to their salary from the 2025 budget, which is expected to take place in November this year after the conclusion of the Presidential Election.
