• EC Chair notes need to complete delimitation or amend current law prior to holding elections 

The Election Commission (EC) stated that the Government is yet to consult them on holding the Provincial Council (PC) Elections.

PC Elections have not been held since 2014 due to a legal issue that arose following a legal amendment that the United National Front-led Government from 2015 to 2020 attempted to bring in.

When queried by The Daily Morning as to whether the Government had consulted them regarding the holding of the PC Elections, EC Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said that the EC would be part of the process if the necessary arrangements are to be made. However, he noted that the Government had not consulted the EC on the matter thus far. 

“In order to hold the PC Elections, either the delimitation process should be completed or the existing law should be amended to allow the Elections to be held under the old system. One of these two must happen. If the Government intends to proceed, they will need to consult us, but, they have not yet reached out to us."

When queried by The Daily Morning about the status of the relevant legal reforms early this month (May), the Deputy Minister of PCs and Local Government (LG), Prabha Ruwan Senarath said that the process would commence once the LG Elections were over. The LG Elections were held on 6 May.

The PCs are the devolved governing bodies of the nine provinces. In accordance with the Constitution, they have legislative power over a variety of matters including agriculture, education, health, housing, LG, planning, public transport and social services.