With the term of office of 340 of the 341 Local Government (LG) bodies including Municipal Councils (MC), Urban Councils (UC) and Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) across the country ending at midnight yesterday (19), many politicians have expressed concerns about the sustainment of important services provided to the public through such bodies.
The term of office of all LG bodies including 24 MCs, 41 UCs, and 275 PSs except for the Elpitiya PS expired at midnight yesterday. Accordingly, the authority of the LG bodies would be transferred to the Municipal Commissioners and UC and PS Secretaries. The Elpitiya PS was established later than the other LG bodies which were established following the LG elections held in 2018, due to which it will be functioning further.
Meanwhile, Chief Opposition Whip and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Lakshman Kiriella yesterday commented on the expiration of the term of office of LG bodies. He said that although the Government would appoint commissioners and secretaries to operate the LG bodies, the delivery of services through such institutions would be hampered as there would be no people's representatives in the LG bodies. “It is clearly not possible for the LG bodies to operate without the people's representatives. The people's representatives and government officials are two different groups. Their objectives and determinations are different.”
Opposition MP Prof. G.L. Peiris also remarked on the possible problematic situation which may arise due to the non-holding of the LG elections on time, recently. “By 19 March, the term of office of all 340 LG bodies will end. Not a single representative elected by the people will be there. The services provided by the LG bodies directly affect the lives of the people. Therefore, the lack of people's representatives in the LG bodies will inevitably affect the people. All their services will have to be carried out not by the people's representatives, but by the officials.”
Following the LG elections which were held in 2018, they were originally scheduled to be held again last year. However, the LG elections were postponed and the LG bodies' term of office was extended by the then-Public Services, Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon in an Extraordinary Gazette issued in January 2022.
The Election Commission (EC) early this year set 9 March as the date of the LG elections, but the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies, and the General Treasury had not released the required funds for the LG elections. As a result the election was postponed indefinitely due to reasons which the EC said were beyond their control. The SJB and several other parties then initiated legal proceedings against the non-release of the funds for the LG elections. Against this backdrop, the EC had rescheduled the LG elections to 25 April 2023. The relevant funds have not yet been released, and there are reports to the effect that the date of LG elections would have to be rescheduled again.