Two local authorities bills which were taken up for debate in Parliament last week were passed during the second reading but had to be postponed on the request of opposition political parties to be discussed further before final approval. However Parliament approved the Elections (Special Provisions) Bill. Here are some of the highlights of the bills.
The Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Bill to amend the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance:
The Bill provides for the establishment of a National Delimitation Committee (NDL) consisting of five persons who will be appointed by the Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils. The mandate of the NDL is to make recommendations for the division of a local authority area into wards. In doing so the Committee has to take into consideration the ratio of the ethnic composition of the local authority concerned and the need to ensure equal representation of each ethnic group, the area’s geographical and physical features, the population density and the level of economic development.
At the completion of the mandate, the NDL will require to submit a report to the Minister following which he would gazette the number of wards, the boundaries and the names and numbers assigned to each ward. The Minister is entrusted with the power to alter the boundaries of the ward if the need arises. The Bill also provides for the establishment of District Delimitation Committees which will be headed by the District Secretary of each area, to assist the NDL. All political parties and independent groups contesting elections to local authorities will be required to make a deposit of Rs.5,000 per candidate of a political party and Rs. 25,000 in respect of each independent candidate.
The new Bill will also repeal the proportional representation (PR) system of electing members reverting to the one voter, one vote system, popularly known as the first-past-the post system. Each voter will be required to mark a vote for only the political party or the independent candidate of his choice while no preference votes can be given to candidates as in the existing system.
The candidate of each political party or the independent group contesting a ward who secures the most number of votes will be declared the winner.
Although there is no specific mention in the Bill about the percentage to be elected under the PR system it will be 30 per cent of the number of members elected under the first-past-the-post system.
Local Authorities (Special Provisions) Bill to amend the Municipal Councils and Urban Council’s ordinances and the Pradeshiya Sabha Act No 15 of 1987:
Under the provisions of this Bill, if a Budget is not passed in a MC, UC or a Pradeshiya Sabha within two weeks after it is re-submitted; the Mayor/Chairman of such a body will have to resign from office.
However he or she can continue to serve as a councillor.
Elections (Special Provisions) Bill:
Under this Bill a voter who is subject to a total or partial visual impairment or physical disability can be accompanied by a person to assist him in marking the ballot paper.
This has to be done in the presence of a presiding officer and another member of the polling staff while the “accompanying person” has to be over 18 years of age and should not be a candidate contesting at the relevant election, an election official nor a person subject to a disability. |
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