Sri Lanka declares polls for Northern, North Western and Central Provincial

Polls of Northern, North Western and Central Provincial

Northern, North Western and Central Provincial Polls

Sri Lanka declared elections for three provinces including the war-affected Northern Province.President Mahinda Rajapaksa informed the Elections Commission to make arrangements to hold elections in the Northern Province, the government information department reported.Meanwhile the Governors of the Central and North Western provinces said they have also been informed to dissolve their respective provinces for elections to be held.The Governor of the Central Province Tikiri Kobbekaduwa and the Governor of the North Western Province Thisa R. Balala said their respective provincial councils will be dissolved with effect from Saturday.

Focus now will be on if the elections in the Northern Province will take place under the current constitution or if the constitution will be amended before that.Some political parties in Sri Lanka have been calling for the constitution to be amended and a section which was included as a result of a deal signed with India in 1987 be diluted before the Northern Province election.

A Parliament Select Committee has now been appointed to do just that despite opposition from opposition as well as some political parties within the government. 

Northern, North Western and Central Provincial Councils will most probably take place on September 21 or 28.