Two Pradeshiya Sabhas controlled by the National People’s Power voted down their own 2027 budgets on Thursday, in separate councils reported by two different newsrooms.
At the Medagama Pradeshiya Sabha, the budget was defeated by a single vote, the Daily Mirror reported. The council met in the morning under chairman Ajith Priyantha Ratnayaka, who presented the proposals for debate. Eight members voted in favour and nine against.
The nine votes against came from a joint opposition bloc drawn from the United National Party, Sarvajana Balaya, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, the Podujana Eksath Peramuna and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.
Later the same day, the 2027 budget of the Panduwasnuwara Pradeshiya Sabha — also NPP-held — was defeated by two votes, Hiru News reported. Eighteen members voted for the budget and 20 against.
Why a lost budget vote is not a routine setback
Losing a budget vote carries a statutory consequence for a Pradeshiya Sabha chairman. In a judgment delivered on 18 June 2026, the Supreme Court held that a chairman who fails to obtain council approval for the annual budget is deemed to have vacated office by operation of law.
A three-judge bench of Justices Arjuna Obeyesekere, Sampath Abayakoon and Sampath Wijeratne ruled unanimously to that effect while dismissing a fundamental rights petition brought by a former chairman of the Hingurakgoda Pradeshiya Sabha. The provision is Section 169 of the Pradeshiya Sabha Act as amended by the Local Authorities (Special Provisions) Act No. 21 of 2012.
Thursday’s two defeats follow the same pattern seen on 13 October, when the Weligama Pradeshiya Sabha rejected its NPP chairman’s 2027 budget by 22 votes to 23. In each case the party holds the chair of a council in which it does not command a working majority on the day of the vote.
Not reported
Neither filing states what follows procedurally in either council — whether a revised budget will be resubmitted, or whether either chairman’s position is treated as vacated. Neither outlet gives the district of either council, and Hiru’s filing does not identify which parties cast the 20 votes against at Panduwasnuwara. The Daily Mirror reported Medagama only; Hiru reported Panduwasnuwara only — neither newsroom covered both councils.