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Friday Nov 15, 2024
Friday, 24 August 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Skandha Gunasekara
The report of the Provincial Delimitation Commission is set to be rejected by Parliament today with the UNP and Joint Opposition to vote against it, sources said.
The Delimitation Report, which is up for a vote in Parliament today, needs a two-thirds majority of the House for its ratification.According to sources, the UNP parliamentary group had met at the parliamentary complex yesterday where party leader Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had decided to vote against the Delimitation Report.
Meanwhile, the Joint Opposition parliamentary group had met on Wednesday at the official residence of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wijerama Mawatha, and had resolved to vote against the report as well.
Joint Opposition sources said the proposal included in the report to conduct the upcoming Provincial Council elections under the mixed electoral system did not reflect the views of the masses.
“The report proposes to hold PC Elections 2018 under the mixed electoral system. We don’t think this method reflects the views of the citizenry. Therefore, we will do our utmost to prevent this government passing the Delimitation Report with a two-thirds majority in the House,” said a senior JO member.
However, the SLFP group in the Government is of the opinion that the Provincial Council and General Election should be held under the mixed-electoral system.
The debate on the Delimitation Report is scheduled to be taken up in Parliament today from 11.30 a.m. and to continue till 6.00 p.m. The vote is scheduled for 6.00 p.m., parliament sources said.
Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha, presented the Delimitation Report to the House on 6 March.
In the situation where the report is not passed by Parliament, the provincial council polls would not be held according to the new system, sources said.
