The Election Commission has told a parliamentary Select Committee it is prepared to conduct Provincial Council elections under whichever electoral system Parliament finally approves, removing the regulator itself as an obstacle to the long-delayed vote.
Members and officials of the Commission conveyed the position when they appeared before the Select Committee appointed to recommend the electoral system for the Provincial Councils. NewsFirst reported that officials from the Attorney General’s Department were also summoned and presented a report outlining the legal obstacles related to holding the polls.
The Select Committee was recently appointed under the chairmanship of Minister Vijitha Herath and tasked with examining and reporting on the electoral system under which Provincial Council elections should be conducted, along with recommendations and proposals on the matter.
Sri Lanka’s nine Provincial Councils have been without elected members since their five-year terms began expiring in 2017. A 2017 amendment introducing a mixed first-past-the-post and proportional representation system never came into force because the necessary ward delimitation was not completed. Successive governments have postponed the polls, citing those legal hurdles and the absence of an agreed system.
The current government has indicated it intends to hold the elections within a year, but the formal pathway depends on the Committee’s report and the legislation that follows. The Commission was first summoned by the Committee on May 20 along with several other bodies.
The Committee is expected to compile its recommendations after hearing the Attorney General’s Department, the Election Commission and other stakeholders, ahead of any draft amendment.
