Inconsistent amendments to be removed from Local Govt. Bill

• Prime Minister says 55 amendments included in proposed legislation
• North Provincial Council approves 20th Amendment allowing all provincial council elections to be held on same day 

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

The Government has decided not to proceed with altering the Local Government Election Bill with inconsistent amendments, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday as such inconsistencies would be dropped during the committee stage debate, which is expected to take place today.

Chief Opposition Whip JVP MP Anura Dissanayake, setting the stage for the Prime Minister to respond, highlighted the considerable number of amendments, which are mostly not consistent with the very nature of the Local Government Election Bill. 

“All inconsistent amendments will be excluded. During the committee stage members could move new amendments. The Government and all need not to postpone the elections, but to hold them soon. Let’s finish everything and hold the election without delay. So all should help the endeavour,” said Wickremesinghe.

“But as there was opposition against the then proposed system, the formulation of the new system has been delayed. We have been able to include the 55 amendments to the Bill that were proposed by the Election Commission. Some female parliamentarians also made a suggestion to increase female representation to 30%,” he added.

UPFA Joint Opposition MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara, who was keen to study the proposed amendments, requested adequate time. “Don’t get the wrong impression that the opposition is trying to delay the local government election. But the new amendments should be in the hands of the MPs so that they will have sufficient time to study them,” he said. 

According to Minister of Higher Education and Highways and Leader of the House of Parliament Lakshman Kiriella, both the debate and the vote will happen today.

Meanwhile, the North Central Provincial Council approved the 20th Amendment to the Constitution to hold all Provincial Council polls on one day. 

SC gives green light to Provincial Councils Elections Bill 

The Supreme Court has held that the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Bill is not inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution, and supported the equality provisions referred to in Article 12 (4) of the Constitution. Reading the Supreme Court determination in Parliament, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya stated that the Bill was challenged in the Supreme Court in terms of Article 121 (1) of the Constitution, but the petitioners had informed the courts that they did not wish to proceed with the petition.

The proposed amendment provides provisions to ensure that 35% of the members of a provincial council are women. (AH)