President proposes halving number of local councillors at next poll

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday proposed a 50% reduction in the number of councillors at the next Local Government election as the latest system had led to corrupt practices, ignoring the people’s mandate.

He said that the new system resulted in expanding the number of councillors to 8,000 and following the 10 February LG polls, the election of chairpersons to several councils had involved bribery.

“Such a large group of 8,000 members in local bodies is an unnecessary burden on the people,” the President told the breakfast meeting with Editors and heads of media. 

“I strongly propose the number to be reduced by 50% at the next LG polls and I will seek all party support for this,” he said, adding that corrupt political deals in electing chairpersons went against the original mandate given by the respective voters. 

“People anticipated a positive outcome from the revised system of LG polls but what we saw in the election of chairpersons has created a very negative precedent. This is a dangerous sign when considering the new expanded community of local body members,” President said, and noted that the new system had several deficiencies as well.