Sri Lanka's SC rules Provincial Council elections cannot be held under previous law or amendment act

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International News

Sep 03, 2019

7:30AM

Sri Lanka's SC rules Provincial Council elections cannot be held under previous law or amendment act

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Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has ruled that the Provincial Council elections cannot be held under the previous law or the amendment act. The decision was conveyed to President's office on a reference made by the latter to ascertain the possibility of holding the polls.

According to a statement issued by the Secretary to the President last evening, the President had sought Supreme court opinion saying that the delay in holding the Provincial Council elections would cause the people to lose their voting rights.

The five-judge bench of court ruled that the election cannot be held under the Provincial Council (Amendment) Act since the President does not have the authority to declare the boundaries set out in the report of the Delimitation Committee.

Eight out of nine Provincial Councils in Sri Lanka are due for elections while the ninth one is completing its term next month. Sri Lankan Government had changed the electoral system for the Provincial elections in 2017 but failed to adopt report for delimitation of constituencies.

The Opposition parties were pressing for polls by reverting back to old electoral system and President had sought Supreme Court opinion for a way out. It may be mentioned here that Sri Lanka will hold Presidential polls by end of the year.