The Presidential Secretariat is yet to respond to letters sent by the Election Commission in several occasions regarding the long-delayed Provincial Council (PC) elections.
Elections Commission Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said has told the media that the Elections Commission had sent around four letters to the Presidential Secretariat seeking clarity and action on the legal impasse surrounding the Provincial Council elections and that the Commission remains unable to move forward, as the matter is now entirely a legal one.
“We are completely locked in. There is nothing we can do at this point. It’s beyond our control,” he has told The Daily Morning newspaper, adding that the Commission cannot take any steps until the relevant legal amendments are made. “We have requested the necessary actions to be taken, but so far there has been no response.”
On an earlier occasion, Rathnayake has stated that there are currently two possible paths: either to hold the Provincial Council election under the previous proportional representation (PR) system, or to conduct it after a fresh delimitation process under the proposed new electoral system. Of the two, the Elections Commission chairperson has noted that returning to the earlier system would allow the elections to be held more quickly. He has also warned that opting for a new delimitation would take close to a year, meaning the process would need to begin without delay if that path is chosen.
The Provincial Council elections have remained stalled for years due to a legal issue stemming from an amendment introduced by the United National Front Government between 2015 and 2020. Although a delimitation report was completed and submitted to Parliament several years ago, it was rejected by the Legislature at the time, leaving the process in limbo.
In May 2025, the Deputy Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister P. Ruwan Senarath had noted that the government expected to initiate the required legal reforms for the Provincial Council elections once the Local Government elections were concluded. However, despite the Local Government elections concluded on 6 May 2025, there has been no visible progress on preparing for the Provincial Council elections or introducing the necessary legal amendments.
Meanwhile, the Government has announced plans to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee to look into the holding of the Provincial Council elections.
Attempts to contact the Minister of Provincial Councils, Prof. A.H.M.H. Abayarathna acommentsrath for comment were unsuccessful. When contacted, the President’s Media Division had said that they are not aware of the matter.
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