Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Leader MP Mano Ganesan says President Anura Kumara Dissanayake must blame himself for the current power struggle at Local Councils.
In a post on ‘X’, MP Ganesan pointed out that the existing Local Government Act is faulty, which was confirmed during the previous elections.
He further said that President Dissanayake says parties that obtained the highest numbers should be allowed to form councils even if they are short of 50%, but the current law has no such provision.
MP Ganesan said the current law was brought in good faith to provide representation to women and pave the way for ward-based members, but the current system has failed.
“We knew it after experimenting with it last time. Hence, all parties, including the JVP, decided to amend the law to bring the total number of LG members from 8500 to nearly 5000 and amend certain other clauses too. All parties unanimously agreed to this in the last Electoral Reform Select Committee. It was none other than Anura Kumara Dissanayake who was the JVP member in the committee,” MP Ganesan said.
The TPA Leader further said that under the circumstances, the NPP government could have amended the Act with their 159 majority, together with the opposition’s support.
“But they were in an unbelievable hurry to conduct elections as soon as possible for political reasons. Hence, President Dissanayake should blame himself for the clumsy, awkward situation today,” MP Ganesan added. (Newswire)
