Provincial Council elections cannot be conducted this year - Tilvin

Colombo, May 22 (Daily Mirror) - The elections to the Provincial Councils cannot be conducted this year because of current developments in the country, an official said.

General Secretary of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tilvin Silva told Daily Mirror that the possibility of conducting such elections would be explored next year only. The JVP is the maiden ally of the National People’s Power (NPP)

The provincial councils remain defunct since 2017. The NPP manifesto focuses on decentralization, constitutional reform, and holding overdue Provincial Council (PC) elections.

The Election Commission finds it difficult to conduct elections to the provincial council because of a legal snag triggered by the new law that provides for a change of the electoral system.

The Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Act No. 17 of 2017 introduced a Mixed Member Proportional Representation system: 50% elected from wards, and 50% from proportional lists.

A Delimitation Commission prepared the required report and submitted it in 2018. The report was debated and defeated in Parliament. It did not obtain approval due to political disagreement across parties.

The opposition parties insist that the old electoral system should be reintroduced to conduct elections if delimitation under the new system is legally challenging and time consuming.

A Select Committee of Parliament has been appointed to look into and report to Parliament on the matter of selecting the electoral system under which the Provincial Council Elections should be held.