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LG polls islandwide on same day?
The Government wants to pave the way for the holding of local government elections islandwide, by bringing a Bill to Parliament shortly to rescind the nominations that have been accepted for the polls in the North and East three years ago, Cabinet spokesman Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said.

This will enable fresh nominations to be called in respect of these local bodies along with those in the rest of the country when the terms of these latter Councils come to an end between April and June this year.

However the final decision on whether the polls will be held on the same day will be decided by the Elections Commissioner, Mr.Yapa told The Sunday times.
Even though nominations to local bodies in the North and East were accepted three years ago the polls have been successively postponed due to the unstable situation prevalent there.

Once the Bill is passed in Parliament, the Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister will issue a gazette fixing a date to end the terms of the other local bodies so that the elections to all of them could be held on the same day.

As there is no legal provision in the existing Local Government Elections Act to annul a nomination once accepted, an amendment to the Act is now being drafted, with Cabinet approval, to enable this to be done.
The Government said last week it favours a date in April for the polls and that it would be conducted under the existing proportional representation system.

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