By Nadeeka Dissanayake
For the last 11 years Sri Lanka has not held provincial council elections and currently all provinces are run by the Governors in the absence of public representation through elected members.
For years Sri Lanka has been seeking a change in the electoral system for Local Government authorities – a transition from the Proportional Representation (PR)-based electoral system to a ward-based mixed member proportional (MMP) system. The ward-based approach demands restructuring the delimitation process for the local government authorities and this is the point where the question begins. In this transition towards the MMP system, from 2012 to 2017, many amendments were suggested and made to the legislation including the inclusion of the women’s quota for the member representation at the local government authorities.
Following these amendments elections were held in 341 local government authorities in 2018. Today the provincial councils are run undemocratically in the absence of public representation. In the recent past with many questions revolving around the operations of the delimitation committee, its slow process had been criticised, yet, all successive governments did not take a true initiative to find a solution to the delimitation concerns and hold the provincial council elections. The common excuse was the unending process of finding a decision on delimitation. Every government up to now has postponed the provincial council elections making the need for changes in the delimitation process an excuse.
Provincial councils are the main point where public services and national development initiatives are implemented at the ground level. It is the authority where the general public arrive seeking multiple services from licensing, authorisations, approvals to clarifications. It is the point where government initiated welfare measures to the vulnerable communities are distributed to the Grama Niladharis. It is through the members of the provincial councils that area specific issues are raised and discussed and processed to find a solution. Provincial councils are key to the proper functioning of each province. In this mechanism public representation at the provincial councils is vital. Particularly in areas where there are multiple crucial issues with pending solutions, such as the Northern and the Eastern Provinces. In the absence of public representation at the provincial councils over a decade, questions have surfaced over democratic function and implementation in civil administration at the provincial level, which demands the utmost necessity to hold provincial council elections on time – the time being one year since Anura Kumara Dissanayake assuming the office as President in September 2024. Constitutionally this is the one year period to hold the elections.
Yet, the current Government, and its top decisionmakers have announced on multiple occasions that the Government expects to find a solution to the delimitation issue.
During a Parliament debate in June, Deputy Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Prabha Ruwan Senarath said that holding the provincial council elections is scheduled to be made early next year (2026) following a solution to the unresolved legal and technical issues pertaining to the electoral system such as the delimitation process. On 7 September, addressing a public rally in Jaffna, General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Tilvin Silva, declaring confidence in winning elections at the provincial level pointed out the necessity to find a solution to the delimitation process is essential to hold the elections.
Issuing a statement last week, a group of former provincial council members of the Northern Province, urged the Government to hold provincial council elections under the previous electoral system – the PR-based system. The statement was jointly issued by former Northern Provincial minister and EPRLF member Dr. Sarweshwaran, former politician of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) Emmanuel Arnold, The People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) member Kajadeepan, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) member S. Kugadas, and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) member Navanathan. “This government, led by the JVP, is a party that has always opposed the Provincial Councils system as a matter of policy. Therefore, we have doubts whether the government is genuinely committed to holding elections. Some in government have even referred to Provincial Councils as white elephants,” the statement read. The group further mentions that the Government has failed to state a clear time frame in resolving the delimitation process. The former PC members are of the view that even though the provincial councils are not a complete solution to the national issue, they are vital to ensuring democracy.
Emphasising the importance of reviving democracy at the provincial level, constitutional experts, civil society representatives also urge the Government to hold provincial council elections by December 2025 under the previous electoral system – the Proportional-based electoral system. They urge the need to restore the proper functioning of provincial councils and then find a solution to the delimitation process which can be established as a long-term solution.
Postponing provincial council elections is surely a democratic crisis. At a time when the country is facing multiple socio-economic crises it is important to avoid political crises and restore democracy at the ground level. Thus, holding the provincial council elections and establishing genuine public representation at the provincial level will be a democratic victory.