It was previously announced that the Parliamentary Select Committee, chaired by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, was mandated to submit its report within three months on the electoral system to be used for Provincial Council elections.
However, reliable political circles suggest that when the committee met for the first time on March 17, Chairman Herath stated that it is only the first report that must be submitted within three months. This implies that the committee will likely submit several more reports periodically.
The National People’s Power (NPP) government, which promised during the 2024 national elections to hold Provincial Council elections within one year of coming to power, has not shown any urgency in fulfilling that promise for a year and a half. The Foreign Minister’s announcement of a “first report in three months” only strengthens the suspicion that the current government, like its predecessors, is simply biding its time without conducting the elections.
In the 2025 Local Government elections, the NPP received approximately 1.8 million fewer votes than it did in the 2024 Parliamentary elections. Had they secured a massive victory in the local polls similar to the general elections, the government might have moved quickly to hold Provincial Council elections.
However, the government cannot afford to face another decline in public support so soon after taking office. Consequently, for a government already disinterested in holding these elections, Cyclone Ditwah at the end of last year and the current economic crisis resulting from the Middle East war have provided convenient excuses for further delay.
Therefore, it seems unlikely that elections will be held in the near future, specifically within this year. With the entire world facing economic turmoil due to the war, there is little chance of India or any other nation pressuring the Sri Lankan government to conduct Provincial Council elections.
It is understood that the Attorney General and the Commissioner General of Elections have been summoned for the next select committee meeting on April 7. Yet, there is no reason to believe that the government does not have the intention to drag this out further.
Meanwhile, Tamil nationalist parties, which occasionally issue statements about mobilizing the public to demand the full implementation of the 13th Amendment and the holding of Provincial Council elections, eventually tend to forget their own rhetoric.
When thinking about the Provincial Council elections, the famous cinema comedian dialogue echoes in the ear: “It’s coming… but it won’t arrive”.
The government’s stance on Provincial Council elections does not inspire confidence.
