Necessary financial provisions are available to hold Provincial Council (PC) elections, Cabinet Spokesperson and Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said, directly disputing a claim by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva that the polls cannot be held this year for lack of funds.
Responding to a journalist’s question at the weekly Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday, Dr. Jayatissa said the required funds had already been allocated and there was no issue regarding financial provisions. He maintained that the main obstacle to holding the long-delayed elections lies in the existing legal framework, not money.
The minister said a parliamentary committee is currently examining the matter and working to resolve the outstanding legal issues. Once the necessary legal provisions are enacted, he added, the PC election can be conducted without delay.
Provincial Councils have stood without elected members since terms began expiring in 2017, with no island-wide PC poll held since 2014. The dispute over funding marks the latest friction in the deadlock: Silva had earlier signalled that resources were redirected to Cyclone Ditwah relief and that polls were unlikely before 2027, while analysts have described the delay as stretching beyond a decade.
The remarks came at the same briefing where the government announced an anti-defection bill, and follow a broad agreement among parties and the Election Commission to fast-track the legal amendments. A parliamentary committee summoned the Election Commission last week over the stalled process.
