Considering that the government did not achieve the expected results in the local government elections and the opposition groups are rapidly increasing their popularity, the government is focused on holding the provincial council elections expeditiously, the report says.
Accordingly, the government has decided to expedite the amendments to the laws related to the local government elections, which are already underway. Sources close to the government say that the government is fully focused on holding the provincial council elections at the earliest possible time after the completion of these activities.
The Indo-Lanka Accord, signed in 1987 by bringing the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution, established the provincial council system in Sri Lanka as a solution to the ethnic problem. Accordingly, India is keenly interested in the provincial council elections in Sri Lanka. India had expressed its concern several times about the failure to hold the provincial council elections on time.
The joint statement issued by the two countries during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka also emphasized the need to hold the Provincial Council elections as soon as possible.
There is also a view in the country that the Provincial Council elections should be postponed and that the government’s attention should be focused on holding them as soon as possible, which has been postponed for several years.