News
PC polls by June
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to announce that Provincial Council elections will be held by June this year.
With this in mind, he will meet former PC members from parties that form the ruling alliance for a discussion on Wednesday. He is to tell them to prepare the election machinery while assisting in the Government’s development activities.
It is not immediately clear why the Government has been prompted to go for the PC polls. At present all provinces are being run by the respective Governors. The issue is also contained in the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Sri Lanka. It calls for the early conduct of PC polls – a position taken up by even neighbouring India. The PCs were the outcome of the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987.
A high-ranking government source said yesterday that as a prelude to the polls, the Government would introduce legislation for the electoral process. This has remained a contributory factor for delays in the conduct of elections.
The Government is yet to pass amendments to the Provincial Council Elections (Amendment) Act to conduct polls under the previous proportional representation system.
The Supreme Court, from which the then President Maithripala Sirisena sought a determination, ruled that PC polls could be held either under the old one or on a new system only after amending legislation was passed.
All nine PCs are now non-operational after their five-year terms lapsed at various stages.