Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has appointed a five-member committee to make recommendations to hold provincial council elections.
This is in accordance with Section 4 (12) of the Provincial Councils (Amendment) Act No. 17 of 2017. The committee is chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The other members are R.M.A.L. Ratnayake, Periyasamy Muthulingam, Prof. Balasundaram Pillai and Dr. A.S.M. Nawfal.
The five member committee reviewing the Report of the Delimitation Committee for the Delimitation of electorates in Provincial Councils and make recommendations, will be effective from today, the Speaker’s Media unit said.
The four members appointed in addition to the Prime Minister are non-political intellectuals who are knowledgeable in the field.
Following the defeat of the Report of the Delimitation Committee for the Delimitation of electorates in Provincial Councils in Parliament political party representatives at a meeting with the Speaker earlier had agreed to provide full support to hold the provincial elections in January.
Elections Commission (EC) Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said Provincial Council elections could be held as early as the first week of January provided the revised Delimitation Committee report is gazetted by President Maithripala Sirisena in two months.
He said if the government is willing to conduct the elections under the old system, the Delimitation Report was not necessary.
If the committee headed by Prime Minister can provide relevant recommendations by mid October, holding PC elections in January is possible, according to the Elections Commission.