4 July 2018 08:42 pm
He told Parliament that he had discussed with political parties, Chairman of the Elections
Commission and the Speaker regarding the matter and added that political party leaders had been unable to reach a consensus on the electoral system.
"Some leaders were of the opinion that election should be held under the old system, temporarily while the others were yet to take a decision," he said.
In response to a question raised by Joint Opposition MP Dallas Allahapperuma, he said there were shortcomings of the recently enacted electoral system for the Local Government bodies and added that it could lead to unstable administration in Provincial Councils as experienced in the most of the LG bodies.
The Premier said an amendment should be brought to the electoral system if needed before the debate on the delimitation report.
Responding to a question by MP Allahapperuma whether the Government had a plan to postpone the elections indefinitely, the Prime Minister said he did not want to postpone the elections and said they would meet the party leaders soon.
Mr Wickremesinghe said he could not take a decision on the electoral system on his own and stressed the need to have an agreement with all parties.
Meanwhile, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said he also had discussed the matter with party leaders but they could not come to an agreement on the electoral system and added that the matter could be discussed during the adjournment debate on Friday. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)