Elections to remaining LG bodies in Oct/Nov

by L.S. Ananda Wedaarachchi

Elections to the remaining local government bodies will be held in the last week of October or in the first two weeks in November, said a spokesman for the Elections Department. He said that the Kandy Esala perahera and the Deepavali and Haj festivals will be celebrated in the coming months.

Among the 23 local bodies which will go to the polls are 17 Municipal Councils including Colombo, Sri Jayawardhanapura, Moratuwa, Gampaha, Galle, Matara, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Kurunegala, Badulla and Anuradhapura.

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) recorded a landslide victory winning 250 local bodies, at the elections for 299 local bodies on March 17 and July 23.

The main opposition, UNP came third having lost 19 local bodies which were under its control. The UNP won only nine local bodies. The JVP suffered a humiliating defeat having failed to win even a single local body.

The TNA and TULF won 32 local bodies in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

In the Jaffna district, except the Jaffna Municipal Council, elections for local bodies were held after almost 20 years. The TNA won 13 local councils including five in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts and Digamadulla and Trincomalee in the Eastern Province.

The TULF led by V. Anandasangaree won two local councils in Poonekery and Pachehilepalai (Palai) in the Kilinochchi district.

According to the spokesman, elections for the remaining local bodies should be held before December 31, this year as President Mahinda Rajapaksa had extended the term of office of those local bodies till December 31.