LG polls: Not practicable, says Faiszer

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Amidst the controversy over the uncertainty of holding Local Government elections before March 31, Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha said it was not practicable to meet this deadline as the delimitation has to be

completed in 19 districts including the seven districts in the North and the East.

At present, delimitation has been completed in the Gampaha, Kegalle, Kurunegala, Galle, Anuradhapura and Puttlam districts.

It took three months to complete the delimitation in six districts and a certain time-frame is needed to complete the delimitation in the remaining 19 districts.Else, there is no political reason, whatsoever, to postpone the elections, the Minister told the Sunday Observer.

“The intention of the Government is to conduct Local Government elections as early as possible. We would try our best to hold elections before the end of this year,” he said.

Minister Musthapha said there are 4,833 wards and of them there will be minimum changes in nearly 2,000 wards based on the appeal tribunals. “This shows how unjust the former delimitation was”, he said.

Delimitation Committee Chairman Asoka Peiris said a five-member Delimitation Committee was appointed under his chairmanship on November 1, last year to resolve problems pertaining to demarcation following the presentation of the National Delimitation Commission report. “Except me, all other members in the committee are represented in the UNP, UPFA, JVP and the TNA.

He said 5,092 members will be elected at the Local Government polls from 4,833 wards and added that of the 4,833 wards, 4,583 are single-member wards, 241 multi-member wards electing two persons each and nine multi-member wards electing three persons each. The Delimitation Committee has received numerous complaints from people and most of them were on the boundaries of the new wards with issues such as ethnicity, caste and the names of the new wards being raised.