The Delimitation report on Provincial Councils will be moved for debate next Thursday.
The Parliamentary Business Committee chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya decided to take up a full-day debate on the Delimitation Committee Report for the Delimitation of Electorates in Provincial Councils on March 22.
The report was presented in Parliament by Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha on March 6. The report has to be approved by two thirds majority in Parliament at the end of the debate.
Delimitation of electorates was based on the new electoral system for Provincial Councils passed into law in 2017. Under the new mix member proportional representation system, 50 percent of members will be elected from the First-Past-the-Post system and the balance of 50 percent from the Proportional Representation system. The report running to 814 pages provides a general review of the electoral system in Sri Lanka, details of the delimitation process, demarcation of electorates, boundary Schedule of electorates and key issues highlighted by the stakeholders, including representation of minorities, multi-member electorates, naming of electorates and adequacy of the number of members.
The five-member committee headed by retired Surveyor General Kanagaratnam Thavalingam, retired Assistant Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Anila Dias Bandaranaike, Prof. S.H. Hisbullah, Prof. Sangara Wijeyasandiran and retired Assistant Election Commissioner Premathilaka Siriwardena presented its report to the Minister on February 19.
The debate on the Bond Commission report and the PRECIFAC report, which was postponed on February 20 due to the non-availability of English or Tamil translations of the PRECIFAC report, has been re-scheduled for March 23. It will be the continuation of adjournment debate moved on February 6.