A five-member bench of the Supreme Court has determined unanimously that Provincial Council elections cannot be held under the previous system, in the absence of the report of the Delimitations Review Committee.
The Supreme Court provided this determination in line with a query posed by President Maithripala Sirisena.
The Secretary to the President announced this evening that the court had determined that the President is not empowered to declare electoral boundaries as per the delimitation report currently before the subject minister, in the absence of the report of the delimitations review committee.
Whilst a delimitation report was prepared in line with the Act adopted by parliament in September 2017, as a result of several problems that arose, a review committee was appointed, chaired by the Prime Minister.
However, as the review committee is yet to fulfil the task entrusted to them, the President had inquired from the Supreme Court, if he was empowered to declare the electoral boundaries in line with the existing delimitation report.
The President had also sought a determination on whether the provincial council elections could be held under the electoral system which prevailed prior to September 2017.
