Sri Lankan local elections, 2018
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
8,293 seats across 341 local authorities |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
Local elections are expected to be held in Sri Lanka on 10 February 2018. 15.8 million Sri Lankans will be eligible to elect 8,293 members to 341 local authorities (24 municipal councils, 41 urban councils and 276 divisional councils) in the country. It is expected to be the largest election in Sri Lankan history and will be the fist time elections to all local authorities are held on the same day. These will also be the first elections under the mixed electoral system whereby 60% of members will be elected using first-past-the-post voting and the remaining 40% through closed list proportional representation.
The last major round of local government elections was held in 2011 when elections were held in 322 of the then 335 local authorities. Elections to two other local authorities in Mullaitivu District were due but were repeatedly postponed due to alleged delays in resettling internally displaced persons following the end of the civil war in 2009. Elections to the remaining 11 local authorities were not due as they had their last election in 2008 or 2009. Since 2011 six new local authorities have been created (1 MC, 5 DC) taking the total number of local authorities to 341 (24 MC, 41 UC, 276 DC).
The normal term of a local authority is four years but the law allows the central government to extend this by a further year. The term of the 234 local authorities (3 MC, 30 UC, 201 DC) that had their election on 17 March 2011 was due to expire on 31 March 2015 but on 27 March 2015 their term was extended to 15 May 2015. These 234 local authorities were then dissolved and their administration placed under special commissioners appointed by the government. The term of the 65 local authorities (1 MC, 9 UC, 55 DC) that had their election on 23 July 2011 expired on 31 July 2015 after which their administration was placed under special commissioners. The term of the 23 local authorities (16 MC, 1 UC, 6 DC) that had their election on 8 October 2011 was due to expire on 15/31 October 2015 but in October 2015 their term was extended to 31 December 2015. This was subsequently extended to 30 June 2016. These 23 local authorities were then dissolved and their administration placed under special commissioners.
...
Wikipedia