New Election Commission takes office today

• Govt. making plans to move forward with long-delayed PC elections 

Newly appointed members of the Election Commission are due to assume duties today as the Government looks to hold the long-delayed Provincial Councils next year.

The new members were appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as per the Articles 41A and 103 (1) of the Constitution.

Accordingly, Nimal G. Punchihewa has been named the new Chairman of the Election Commission, and will be replacing the immensely popular Mahinda Deshapriya. M. M. Mohamed, S. B. Diwaratne, K. P. P. Pathirana, and Jeevan Thyagarajah are the other members.

Issuing a press release, the Commissioner-General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake stated that the aforementioned members of the Commission will take office today. 

The appointments to the new commission come as the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has said it will start discussions with the Commission Chairman to hold the long-delayed Provincial Council elections next year. SLPP Founder Basil Rajapaksa told a meeting of SLPP Provincial Councils Members yesterday that the Government was working on resolving the legal impediments to holding the Provincial Council elections next year. He also said the public had been inconvenienced by the suspension of Provincial Councils over the last two years, and this should be rectified as soon as possible.