Bill amending Local Authorities elections before parliament next month

The Sri Lankan government has said that the proposed Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Bill would be taken up for voting in parliament next month.

Chief Government Whip and Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told the media that the bill has been debated in the House and that it would be taken for a vote next month.

Following the debate, the vote on the bill was postponed in order to introduce some amendments to the Bill according to requests made by opposition parties.

The proposed Bill will result in the introduction of an electoral system that would include both the Proportional Representation system and the First-Past-the-Post system for local government elections.

Chief Opposition Whip, John Amaratunga had earlier said that the opposition United National Party (UNP) had decided to support the proposed amendments.

The Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Bill was first presented to the House in October 2010 along with the Local Authorities (Special Provisions) Bill.