Sri Lankan parliament to convene special session on local elections on Feb 14

Colombo, Feb 11 (PTI) Sri Lanka's parliament will convene a special session on Friday to discuss the Supreme Court's ruling on a bill that aims to annul the nominations submitted in 2023 for elections to 340 local councils, according to a notice issued by the Speaker on Tuesday.
     In 2023, local elections were scheduled after nominations were accepted.
     However, the then-government of Ranil Wickremesinghe postponed them, citing a lack of funds amid Sri Lanka’s severe economic crisis. The polls, originally set for March 9, 2023, were postponed to April 25, 2023, but were again cancelled.
     However, the Supreme Court later ruled that the government’s decision violated fundamental rights and it had unlawfully obstructed the election process.
     According to the notice issued by the Speaker on Tuesday, the special session convened on February 14 is intended to inform the parliament of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill.
     The new bill is required to annul the nominations accepted in 2023 for elections to 340 local councils.
     The National People's Power (NPP) led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, which was then in opposition but now leads the government, had accused the previous administration — including former president Wickremesinghe, who also served as finance minister — of deliberately delaying the elections out of fear of an electoral defeat.
     Following the Supreme Court's ruling, the Elections Commission said that fresh nominations would be required before the polls could proceed. However, this necessitated amendments to the Elections Act to legally permit a new nomination process, which the proposed bill aims to address.
     President Dissanayake has said that the long-delayed local elections will be conducted by April 2025. The special parliamentary session is expected to set the legal groundwork to finally hold these crucial elections, which will be a significant test for the new government.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)