Move to conduct PC elections after Presidential Election, Gevindu opposes move

• Advocates for a new electoral system with more weight on the first-past-the-post system
• Requests presidential candidates to seek a mandate to continue or abolish the presidency 

By Yohan Perera   

Parliamentarian Gevindu Cumaratunga yesterday protested  purported moves to change the election law in terms of the enactment of  a bill introduced by Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MP M.A.  Sumanthiran to conduct the elections to the Provincial Councils, now  defunct for more than six years, immediately after the presidential poll  is over.   

Making his remarks at a press conference, he said he is  opposed to the move to amend the Act to hold the Provincial Council  elections under the proportional representation system. The MP said  candidates who are contesting the Presidential Election should seek a  mandate to see whether the Provincial Council elections should be  scrapped or not.   

“We have been made to understand that the private member’s  motion by TNA MP M. A. Sumanthiran is to be presented seeking to amend  the law to enable the holding of Provincial Council elections under the  PR system. This is to be done by ignoring the amendment made in 2017 to  hold elections under the mixed system. We oppose this move as it is done  for the benefit of a certain presidential candidate,” MP Cumaratunga  told a media briefing.   

“Also, we see provincial councils as a vehicle for the  division of the nation. Therefore, we are happy that the provincial  councils have become has become nonfunctional even though it has  happened as a result of a mess-up by the Yahapalana government,” he  added.   

“We request the presidential candidates to seek a mandate  from the people through the presidential elections either to continue or  abolish the presidency,” he also said.   

The MP stressed a need for a whole new electoral system  which covers all tiers of the government. “We are for a new electoral  system which has more weight on a first past the post system,” he said  in this regard.