The Election Commission (EC) stated that they are ready to hold the Provincial Council (PC) Elections once the relevant legal issues are resolved.
Speaking at a recent political rally, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that the Government had planned to hold the PC Elections next year (2025).
Commenting on the matter to The Daily Morning, EC Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said that the EC would hold the said elections as soon as the related legal issues are addressed. “To hold the PC Elections, either delimitation should be carried out, or an amendment should be brought to the relevant legislation to hold it under the previous proportional system. When it is done, we will hold the elections.”
Emphasising that it is important to establish a strong political mechanism which includes the Presidency, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Parliament, PCs and Local Government Bodies to revive the collapsed country, President Dissanayake said that the Government would facilitate the PC Elections, which were last held in 2014.
The PCs are the devolved governing bodies of the nine provinces. In accordance with the Constitution, they have legislative power over a variety of matters including agriculture, education, health, housing, Local Government, planning, public transport and social services.
The Constitution also gives them powers over the Police and lands, but successive central governments have refused to devolve these powers to the provinces. Although there should be public representatives for the better functioning of PCs, the PC Elections to elect public representatives have been postponed for a long time due to a legal issue which arose as a result of a legal amendment that the United National Front Government from 2015 to 2020 attempted to bring in.