The Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill brought to reactivate local authorities in line with the court judgment.

¶ 02 Elections must be held—no second thought. I first became Chairman of the Nuwara Eliya Pradeshiya Sabha in 1991 and have served 20 years in Parliament since. Local authorities are the foundation of a politician’s life and the closest bodies to the people; they must function.

¶ 03 During the ‘good governance’ period, we increased the number of Pradeshiya Sabhas in Nuwara Eliya District. Previously, areas like Nuwara Eliya, Ambagamuwa, Walapane, and Kotmale each had over 200,000 population. We asked to further sub-divide them; each was split into three, enabling better service delivery. That good step was taken by the Tamil Progressive Alliance. Unfortunately, these bodies then became non-functional, and the then President did not facilitate elections, instead taking measures to postpone them—points Hon. Dayasiri also raised.

¶ 04 While we can argue many issues, time is short. From our side, the election must be held. However, practical difficulties must be considered. Therefore, it would be better to hold the election after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. This is only our advice; you may or may not follow it. The Budget Debate continues until 21 March; Members will be very busy, then the New Year comes. After these, taking steps to conduct the election would be most appropriate, I politely suggest.

¶ 05 In the plantation region, we absolutely need local authorities to address people’s problems. Even now, in Nuwara Eliya, there is one GN Division per 10,000 people—Divisions like Walapane with around 10,000 population per GN. We hope these Divisions, too, will be sub-divided after this election.