He's been Sri Lanka's election chief for 10 years, overseen a dozen or so elections -- many of them violent -- and suffered six heart attacks: Dayananda Dissanayake thinks he's earned his retirement.
But try as he might, the 63-year old career bureaucrat has been unable to step down, due to a legal constraint, and said Friday that he'd be leading another election November 2005.
"I have no choice," Dissanayake told reporters at a briefing to announce tough measures to ensure the November 17 presidential poll passes off peacefully.
A constitutional amendment passed in 2001 called for a new election commission with more powers, and stipulated that Dissanayake stay in office until the new agency was created and a commissioner appointed.
But no timeframe was ever included in the amendment and four years later -- and three years past retirement age -- Dissanayake says he is still waiting for the government to replace him.
In 2003 he tried once again to retire, petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn the amendment. However, the nation's highest court rejected the request and ordered him to keep working.
"I feel that even in year 3,000, I still won't be allowed to retire," he quipped.
Asked what would type of election commission would work in Sri Lanka, Dissanayake pointed to India where he said the commission has a very high level of autonomy and is independent of political interference.
"I think the most appropriate model is that of India, otherwise it's difficult to hold elections in this country," he said.
"No one points a finger at the election commissioner there," Dissanayake said, "Here, everyone points a finger at me."
Widely seen as impartial, Dissanayake said the hardest part of his job was fielding political pressure. "The main problem is people want me to align myself with them," he said, declining to identify any candidates or parties who had done so.
To show neutrality, he has not voted for the past 42 years and said he would not do so again this year.
Dissanayake entered government in 1970 and assumed his current post in February 1995.
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