• Chair reiterates that fresh delimitation process will be time-consuming, notes the Parliament can make or amend any related law 

The Election Commission (EC) stated that while it is the Parliament that should decide under which system the long-delayed Provincial Council (PC) Elections should be held, the Polls could be conducted sooner if it proceeds under the previous electoral system (proportional representation [PR]).

EC Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake told The Daily Morning there are currently two possible paths: either to hold the Elections using the previous system, or conduct it after a fresh delimitation process. Of the two, he noted that returning to the earlier system would allow the elections to be held more quickly.

“If the existing legal framework does not allow us to use the delimitation report that was completed earlier, the Parliament will have to consider either calling for a new delimitation or decide to hold the Elections under the previous arrangement. The Parliament can make or amend any law, so they can do this and facilitate the Elections,” he said.

The Public Administration, PCs, and Local Government (LG) Minister, Prof. A.H.M.H. Abayarathna and the Deputy subject Minister, Prabha Ruwan Senarath were not available for comment.

On an earlier occasion, Rathnayake said that if the Government opts for a new delimitation, the process would take close to a year, and would therefore need to be commenced without delay.

The PC Elections have been stalled for years due to a legal issue arising from an amendment introduced by the United National Front Government between 2015 and 2020. Although a delimitation report was completed and submitted to the Parliament several years ago, it was rejected by the then Parliament.

In May of this year, Senarath said the Government expected to initiate legal reforms for the PC Elections once the LG Elections were concluded. However, despite the LG Elections being held on 6 May 2025, there has been no visible progress on preparing for the PC Elections or starting the necessary legal amendments.