Deputy Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, Prabha Ruwan Senarath, says a decision on holding the Provincial Council elections is scheduled to be made in the first quarter of next year due to unresolved legal and technical issues, such as the delimitation process.
The Deputy Minister stated that elections will not be held until these challenges are adequately addressed and the local government legal framework is stabilized.
The Deputy Minister made the remarks referring to the uproar that arose when former Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faizer Musthapha tabled a delimitation report for the holding of the Provincial Council elections and later rejected it.
As a result, the government is now considering returning to the old electoral system and delimiting provincial councils.
However, Deputy Minister Senarath emphasises that the election will be held only after the local government structure is strengthened and empowered to manage public services more effectively at the grassroots level.
“The government expects to revisit the issue of provincial council elections in January 2026. By then, it is hoped that the legal, administrative, and delimitation-related shortcomings will have been resolved. We need to ensure that all these legal issues are resolved before we go to the provincial council elections next year. Preliminary discussions have begun. Many other issues need to be resolved before the election can be held,” he added. (Newswire)