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Govt. appoints NDC to oversee changes to LG polls’ laws
View(s):By Chandani Kirinde
The government has named five members to the National Delimitation Committee (NDC) that is entrusted with making recommendations for the division of each local authority area into wards, under the amendments introduced to the Local Authorities Elections laws recently.
The five-member Committee appointed by Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils A.L.M. Athaullah comprises of Jayalath R.V. Dissanayaka (Chairman), P.H.G. Premasiri, Wimal Rubasinghe, A.M. Nahiya and Thevaraj Adhavan.
The appointment of the NDC is the first step towards enforcing the changes to the Local Authorities Election Ordinance approved by Parliament last October, which will see the change in the election laws for the first time in 30 years. It ends the Proportional Representation (PR) system of electing members at future local government elections.
The Commission is entrusted with making recommendations, taking into consideration the ratio and ethnic composition of the local authority concerned, with equal representation for each ethnic group in the area, the geographical area and its physical features, the population of the local authority area and the density of its population, and the level of economic development of the area.
The Committee can also recommend the creation of multi-member wards. The Committee has been given till May 31, 2013, to submit its report to the Minister of Local Government, after hearing representations from the public, as well as political parties and other interested organisations.
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