The government will convene a meeting involving all political parties and relevant civil society organizations to explore possible solutions for conducting the long-delayed provincial council elections, stalled since 2017 due to an unresolved legal issue.
Minister of Public Administration, Local Government and Provincial Councils Chandana Abeyratne said the government is taking this step because the legal framework required to hold the elections remains unclear.
The deadlock arose following the introduction of the mixed electoral system for provincial councils in 2017. Parliament rejected the delimitation report submitted by the then Minister of Provincial Councils, with the Minister himself voting against it.
Under existing provisions, a delimitation review committee appointed by the Speaker and headed by the Prime Minister was required to submit a report to the President within two months of receiving the rejected report. If this requirement had been fulfilled, elections could have been held without the approval of Parliament.
However, as the review committee report was not submitted within the stipulated two months, a legal obstacle emerged—one that has remained unresolved for the past eight years.
The Minister noted that there is currently no valid law governing provincial council elections, as the updated legislation is incomplete and the previous legal framework has lapsed.
In the absence of elected provincial councils, powers currently devolved to them are being exercised by the respective provincial governors.
