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Provincial Councils’ Delimitation report in the House for debate
View(s):The Delimitation Committee (DC) report demarcating provincial boundaries, prior to conducting Provincial Councils (PC) polls, has been forwarded to Parliament for debate, while its passage with a two-third majority, will see it being held in the near future, a Cabinet minister said.
Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faizer Mustapha told the Sunday Times that his job is done, with the report forwarded to the Parliament, and it is up to Parliament to fast-track passing it in Parliament, to hold early elections.
Last week, the DC appointed to finalise demarcation of provincial boundaries, handed over its final report to Minister Mustapha on Monday, with a total of 222 electoral divisions in the country.
DC Chairman Dr K. Thavalingam told the Sunday Times they completed the demarcation of provincial boundaries within 4 months, as requested by government, in order to hold polls.
“If any disagreements arise, a Review Committee headed by the Prime Minister will look into its adjustments,” he said.
The 5-member Delimitation Committee chaired by Dr K. Thavalingam comprised Prof S.H. Hasbullah, Dr Anila Dias Bandaranaike, former Additional Commissioner of Elections P.M. Siriwardena, and Head of the Department of Economics and Statistics, Peradeniya University, S. Vijesandiran.
Chairman Thavalingam also pointed out that, the Committee also recommended suggestions made by Prof Hasbullah on representation of Muslims, as Muslims are scattered over most of the provinces and hence, adequate slots be allocated them.
Raising concerns about the demarcation of electoral divisions with regard to Muslims scattered in the South and North, other than in the East, Prof Hasbullah said the Committee was limited in its mandate on addressing unusual ethnic distribution.
According to Prof Hasbulah, the Committee proposed 175 electoral divisions for the Sinhalese (78.4%), Tamils 25 divisions (11.26%), Muslims 13 divisions (5.85%) and 9 for Indian origin Tamils (4.5%) on ethnic basis.
He is of the view that, of the 222 divisions, only 13 divisions are ensured of adequate Muslim representation, where Muslims are in the majority. “Of the 9 PCs, 5 won’t have any Muslim representation at all,”
“This is a very worrying feature, but the DC had to act according to the law, which failed to recognise these issues,” Prof Hasbullah told the Sunday Times, adding, he is hopeful that Parliamentarians will take up the issue and resolve it with adequate remedies.
Following the enactment of PC Elections Amendment Act No. 17 last year, PC elections will be held under a new 50:50 mixed voting system, where 50% of the representatives will be elected on a First-Past-the-Post (FPP) system and 50% on the district level Proportional Representation (PR) system.
Addressing a briefing after the Local Govt. elections held last week, Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya noted that elections for expired PCs is a must, to ensure smooth operations of local governance, as PCs are the highest level of administration in that process.
As of now, Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern PCs terms expired last year, Central, North Western and Northern PCs will be dissolved in October this year, while Southern, Western and Uva PCs terms will expire on Apr.10, 21 and Oct.8 respectively.