Broad agreement reached on holding long-delayed Provincial Council elections

Sri Lanka’s main political parties, civil society groups and the Election Commission moved closer on Tuesday to breaking the decade-long deadlock over Provincial Council elections, last held in 2014.

At a meeting in Colombo organised by the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), party secretaries, representatives and election monitors discussed the urgent need to hold the polls and the electoral system to be used. Of 42 participating parties and civil society groups, all but one signed a joint statement to be submitted to a Parliamentary Select Committee and the government.

The statement endorsed conducting the delayed election under the electoral system that existed prior to the 2017 Amendment No. 17, and agreed that the existing system should remain until the Select Committee reaches a final decision. Parties also agreed to work towards 25% representation for women and youth on a voluntary basis. Those present included United National Party General Secretary Thalatha Athukorala, Samagi Jana Balawegaya General Secretary MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam.

In a parallel development in Parliament, the Attorney General’s Department briefed the Select Committee tasked with recommending an electoral system on the existing legal obstacles to holding the polls and how they could be removed, EconomyNext reported. The Election Commission told the committee it was “prepared to conduct Provincial Council elections at any time under the legal provisions enacted by Parliament” based on the committee’s recommendations. The meeting was chaired by Vijitha Herath, with members including Mano Ganesan and Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam.

The polls have been stalled for more than a decade amid disputes over the new system and boundary delimitation introduced by the 2017 amendment. The Election Commission had told a parliamentary committee last week that it was ready to administer the vote once the legal framework is settled, a process that has repeatedly stalled in Parliament.