Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya told Parliament yesterday that Provincial Council elections would not be conducted under the existing proportional representation system and would instead be held under a new electoral system.

Responding to a question raised by MP Ravi Karunanayake, the Prime Minister said there was no justification for holding elections without ensuring adequate representation for women and youth in Provincial Councils.

She said that the government’s position was to first finalise reforms to the electoral system before proceeding with polls.

The Prime Minister also provided a detailed breakdown of when the terms of Provincial Councils expired, noting that all nine councils had been without elected administrations for several years. According to her, the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council term ended on September 29, 2017, followed by the Eastern and North Central Councils on September 30 and October 1, 2017 respectively.

The Central and North Western Provincial Councils ended their terms on October 08 and 10, 2018, while the Northern Provincial Council term ended on October 24, 2018. The Southern Provincial Council term expired on April 10, 2019, followed by the Western Provincial Council on April 21, 2019, and the Uva Provincial Council on October 8, 2019.

Amarasuriya said that under Section 10(a) of the Provincial Councils Elections Act No. 2 of 1988, the Election Commission was required to publish a notice of intention to hold an election within one week after the dissolution or expiry of a council, following a direction from the President.

However, she noted that the Election Commission had not issued such notices due to the absence of enabling legal provisions following subsequent amendments.

She further explained that under Section 3A of the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Act No. 17 of 2017, the holding of elections is linked to the completion of a delimitation process. This requires the appointment of a Delimitation Committee by the President to define electorates within administrative districts and submit its report to Parliament, with elections to be held only after parliamentary approval.

The Prime Minister said the delimitation process has not yet been completed, which has prevented the conduct of Provincial Council elections under the revised framework.

Amarasuriya also informed Parliament that a parliamentary select committee had been appointed to examine and make recommendations on whether Provincial Council elections could be conducted under the previous electoral system through further amendments to existing legislation.

The committee, titled the “Select Committee of Parliament to look into and report to Parliament on the matter of selecting the Electoral System under which the Provincial Council Elections should be held and submit its proposals and recommendations in that regard,” comprises MPs Vijitha Herath (Chairman), Nizam Kariapper, Chandana Sooriyarachchi, Darmapriya Wijesinghe, Samanmali Gunasingha, Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, Lakshman Nipuna Arachchi, Mano Ganesan, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Arun Hemachandra, Sunil Watagala and Muneer Mulaffer.

She said further decisions regarding the holding of Provincial Council elections will be taken based on the recommendations of the parliamentary select committee.