Elections for five more local government bodies postponed

Sri Lanka's Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dishanayake has announced that elections for five more local government bodies were postponed pending court decisions.

Elections will not be held as scheduled on March 17, to the Kuliyapitiya Urban Council, the Tirukkovil Pradeshiya Sabha, the Ruwanwella Pradeshiya Sabha, the Trincomalee Urban Council, and the Giribawa Pradeshiya Sabha.

The Elections Department last Sunday (20) announced that elections for 59 local government bodies that have legal cases pending will not be held on March 17.

Earlier the Appeal Court ordered the local government elections for the Moneragala, Akmeemana and Akuressa areas to be stopped after taking up writ applications presented by the governing United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and an independent group.

The Election Department initially called polls to be held for 301 out of 335 local government bodies in the country. However, court cases filed against the rejections of nomination lists of political parties and independent groups have led to the cancellation of polls to be held on March 17 for a total of 67 local government bodies.

The remaining 34 local bodies including Colombo Municipal Council are not scheduled to hold elections this time.