The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answers to the questions raised by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake are as follows.

¶ 02 (a) Provincial Council — Date official term ended: - Sabaragamuwa: 2017.09.26 - Eastern: 2017.09.30 - North Central: 2017.10.01 - Central: 2018.10.08 - North Western: 2018.10.10 - Northern: 2018.10.24 - Southern: 2019.04.10 - Western: 2019.04.21 - Uva: 2019.10.08

¶ 03 (b) Date on which election should have been held: Under Section 10(1) of the Provincial Councils Elections Act, No. 2 of 1988, the Election Commission shall, within one week after dissolution or expiry of term, publish the notice of poll. However, as there was no operative law to conduct Provincial Council elections, the Commission did not issue such notice.

¶ 04 Date the Government intends to hold the election: Under Section 3(c) of the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Act, No. 17 of 2017, a Delimitation Committee appointed by the President must determine electoral boundaries and the number of electoral wards and submit a report, which must be approved by Parliament, after which the election can be held.

¶ 05 As delimitation has not been completed, it is not possible to hold elections under Act No. 17 of 2017. Accordingly, after delimitation is completed, either elections will be held under Act No. 17 of 2017, or, if an amendment is brought to that provision, under the previous system. To look into and report on which electoral system should be used and to submit proposals and recommendations, a Select Committee of Parliament has been appointed comprising: 1. Hon. Vijitha Herath — Chair 2. Hon. Muneer Moulana — Member 3. Hon. Attorney-at-Law Sunil Watagala — Member 4. Hon. Arun Hemachandra — Member 5. Hon. R. M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara — Member 6. Hon. Mano Ganesan — Member 7. Hon. Lakshman Nipuna Arachchi — Member 8. Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam — Member 9. Hon. Samanmalee Gunasinghe — Member 10. Hon. Dharmapriya Wijesinghe — Member 11. Hon. Chandana Suriyaarachchi — Member 12. Hon. President’s Counsel M. Nizam Kariapper — Member

¶ 06 Further action will be taken in line with the Report and recommendations submitted by this Committee.

¶ 07 As for whether your Party Leader is democratic, I need not make that determination; Hon. Karunanayake himself, given his role, knows best.

¶ 08 (c) All elections that can and should be held in accordance with the law will be held. The Government has not decided not to hold any election.

¶ 09 (d) No.

¶ 10 (e) No.

¶ 11 (f) No.