Consensus among political parties to revert to PR system for PC polls

The political parties have, by and large, agreed to revert to the old Proportional Representation system for conducting the elections to the provincial councils, a Minister said yesterday.

The government has already enacted legislation to conduct the elections to the provincial councils under a mix of the First Past the Post and Proportional Representation systems.

City Planning and Water Supply Minister Rauff Hakeem told Daily Mirror yesterday that the complications arose from the same electoral model adopted for the elections to the local authorities concluded on February 10, 2018.

In respect of the local authorities, the First Past the Post system returned 60 percent of members and the Proportional Representation 40 percent. However, the formula, proposed for the elections to the provincial councils, will provide for the election of 50 percent of members each from the two systems.

“There were complications from the formula meant for the local authorities. If we use the same for the provincial councils with slight changes in percentages, it will again create complications after the polls,” he said.

He said the political parties made representations to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in this regard recently.

“There is growing consensus among the parties that we should return to the old system in view of elections pending,” he said.

The Prime Minister, at this meeting, agreed to have further talks with the political parties. (Kelum Bandara)