EPDP urges mixed electoral system for Parliamentary elections

By Dinasena Ratugamage

The Parliamentary elections should be held under a mixed electoral system, EPDP leader and Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda told the media on Wednesday (08). He said that he had already proposed it to the Parliament select committee on electoral reforms.

“There are 225 seats in Parliament. 150 of them have to be elected under the first-past-the-post system while the rest should be elected under the Proportional Representation sytem and appointed via the National List. The Minister said that Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi should be made separate electoral districts before the next general election. “MPs should be elected using proportional representation in these districts. Moreover, the delimitation process in the Northern Province should be finalised before holding the election. There are many issues with delimitation,” he said.

On the other hand, the local government election should be held under the proportional representation system, he said. “We hold them now under a mixed system and there has been so much instability created because of this. Initially, we also supported the mixed system but are now convinced it is a failure,” the Minister said.