The Election Commission has informed the Parliamentary Select Committee on Provincial Council Elections that it is prepared to conduct the polls under any electoral system approved by parliament, The Island reported on Saturday.
The position was conveyed when members and officials of the Election Commission appeared before the committee at a meeting held on Thursday. Officials from the Attorney General’s Department were also summoned and submitted a report detailing the legal impediments and procedural issues relating to the conduct of the Provincial Council elections.
The Select Committee, chaired by Minister Vijitha Herath, was recently appointed to examine the electoral framework under which the long-delayed Provincial Council polls should be held, and to submit recommendations and proposals to parliament.
Thursday’s session is the substantive follow-up to the May 20 summons, when the Election Commission was called before the Vijitha Herath committee and the Attorney General’s Department was instructed to submit its report on the legal obstacles.
Provincial Council elections have not been held in Sri Lanka since 2017–2019, making the indefinite postponement one of the longest-running democratic-accountability issues in the cycle. Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said in mid-May the commission expected polls within a year, and Science and Technology Minister Chrishantha Abeyasena said in Kandy that the polls would be held within 2026.
Source: The Island.
