Main SLPP queries if moves are underway to postpone elections next year

• A Cabinet subcommittee has been appointed to work out recommendations to introduce a mixed system

By Kelum Bandara  

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) which is in agreement in principle with the move by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to bring about electoral reforms remains skeptical whether it is an exercise to postpone elections next year, a top source familiar with the process said.   At a recent meeting with Prime Dinesh Gunawardane on the process, the political party representatives have expressed views in this regard.   SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam who attended the meeting is reported to have said that his party is for the change of the parliamentary electoral system but the elections should not be postponed under the ruse of it.    

The SLPP fear stems from the fact that the elections to the Provincial Councils in 2017 in the guise of changing the system to opt for a mixed criterion to elect members.  

Mr. Kariyawasam told the meeting that a separate clause should be included in the proposed electoral reforms law to conduct the pending elections under the current system in case the delimitation process cannot be completed in time for the proposed law to be operational. A Cabinet subcommittee has been appointed to work out recommendations to introduce a mixed system instead of current proportional representation.