NPP’s PC election dilemma

The NPP government has a moral duty to hold the PS elections without delay

Although Opposition parties so far have not proven their allegations of corruption against the government, they have succeeded in creating considerable suspicion among the people about the moral high ground the National People’s Power (NPP) has been laying claims for. 

Despite the Opposition leaders having failed at least to pin point, leave alone proving, what the corruption involved and who the culprits are in for example  the controversial release of over 300 containers from the Colombo harbour without physical inspection, followed by the importation of sub-par coal consignments, they, through their continuous agitations, have shaken the trust people have placed on the NPP as an untainted political party. 

A possible negative fallout of this is the government further delaying the provincial council elections which were held twelve years ago, in 2014, for fear of losing. It must be noted that the NPP lost two million votes during the six months period between the Parliamentary election in November, 2024 and the local government elections in May, 2025, but due to other political reasons and  not primarily due to failures in governance, 

The government seems to be in a dilemma now over holding provincial council elections. On one hand, the NPP leaders have promised time and again before the last general election that they would hold elections for the provincial councils without delay once they come to power. And on the other hand, there is a danger in holding elections amidst controversies. 

Last year, the leaders of the government said that provincial council elections would not be held in that year since three island wide elections - a Presidential election, a parliamentary election and elections for 341 local councils -- have been held within seven months. 

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told parliament early this year that the parliament must clear the legal snags for the PC elections to be held. Accordingly, a Parliamentary select committee (PSC) was appointed by Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne in February in order to recommend changes in the Provincial Councils Elections Act, especially to recommend whether PC elections should be held under the previous proportional representation (PR) system or under the mixed electoral system. 

The PSC met for the first time in March 17 and heard submission from the Attorney General’s Department and Elections Commission (EC) on 12th of this month. The Committee Chairman Minister Vijitha Herath sought  assistance from the Attorney General to resolve the obstacles to holding the PC elections,  taking into consideration the two judgments given by the Supreme Court regarding the Provincial Council Elections (Amendment) Act, 2017.

In fact, it was this amendment that has been standing in the way of holding the elections for the provincial councils which have been established for resolving  the delicate ethnic problem. Also, it was the United National Party (UNP) led government that deliberately created this complicated situation in 2017 through this amendment, after making several efforts to postpone the PC election. 

First, they wanted to hold elections for all provincial councils on the same day for which they presented a Constitutional amendment (20th Amendment),  and the Supreme Court ruled that it should have the consent of all provincial councils, before it is implemented. Then they dumped that Constitutional amendment altogether and presented a Bill seeking an amendment to the Provincial Council Elections Act to ensure 30 percent of women representatives in nomination papers. However, during the committee stage of the debate over this Bill, they introduced the mixed electoral system for the  Provincial council system as an amendment to the Bill,  which was nothing to do with the original provisions of the Bill. 

They did so to dodge the Supreme Court perusal of the mixed electoral system they had introduced. Then, a delimitation report was prepared to hold elections demarcating wards of provincial council areas. Parliament rejected it, and amusingly the minister who presented the report also voting against it. Then, the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had to present an amended report within two months which he never did, creating a legal snag for the holding of PC elections. No government after that wanted to resolve this issue. 

The NPP government has a moral duty to hold the PS elections without delay, despite its seemingly sagging popularity. Holding it early might be better than late for its political survival also, as its results might become a trend setter.