The much awaited delimitation review committee report on the demarcation of the wards in local government bodies is to be presented to the Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Mustapha on Tuesday, December 27.
The election monitoring body, Campaign for Free and Fair Election (CaffE) in a press release said the report should be gazetted immediately after it is submitted so that the dates could be fixed for the next polls to elect members to local bodies, fulfilling something long overdue.
The Committee had conveyed to the Prime Minister on Friday that their work has been concluded.
CaffE Director Keerthi Tennakoon said they have received information that the Minister may not be in the country to receive the Ashoka Peiris report, but they were of the view that the process need not be delayed due to this.
“The Deputy Minister could receive the report and the Secretary of the Provincial Council and Local Government Ministry could take measures to gazette it so that the elections need not be further delayed,” he said.
Local government bodies were expected to go to polls in 2015. The committee had re-demarcated boundaries of some of the electoral wards and their work took longer than expected.
The committee was to wrap up its work in Janaury 2016. Headed by reputed civil servant Ashoka Peiris, the committee comprised K. Saliya of the United People’s Freedom Front, A.S.M. Misbah of the United National Party, Upul Kumaraperuma of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and Prof. B. Balasundarampillai of the Tamil National Alliance.
The Review Committee received nearly 2,000 complaints against proposals by the National Delimitation Commission, especially over the boundaries of the new wards in minority areas.
People’s Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL) filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court seeking an order to hold the local government election in September last year.