Sri Lanka’s long-pending Provincial Council (PC) Elections remain in limbo, with the Election Commission stating that it has received no directives from the Government on when or how the process will move forward.
Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake told media that the body has not been instructed to form a new delimitation committee — a critical step for holding the elections under the revised legal framework.
Although the Cabinet approved the establishment of a new delimitation committee in August to review past recommendations and facilitate the electoral process, no further updates have been provided since.
Under the amended Provincial Councils Elections Act, a Delimitation Committee led by Dr. K. Thavalingam was appointed in 2017 to re-demarcate 2,022 electoral wards and 222 list-based seats, introducing a mixed electoral system similar to that used in local government polls.
However, the committee’s final report, submitted late in 2018, was rejected by the Cabinet, stalling reform efforts.
Despite repeated assurances that elections would resume once delimitation was completed, the delay continues, deepening concerns over democratic representation at the provincial level.
Sri Lanka last held PC Elections in 2014 under the 13th Amendment, meaning the country has now gone over 11 years without renewing its provincial legislatures — the longest such gap since the councils were first established.
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