Local councils to be dissolved before polls

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 February 2006, 11:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse is expected to issue a gazette notification Monday midnight to dissolve all elected local authorities currently in power, political sources in Colombo said. This move will promote a fair and free election on March 30 when 329 local authorities including municipal councils and urban councils and pradesiya sabahs are scheduled to go to poll, election department sources said.

The life term of local authorities functioning with elected administration expires after the local council poll fixed for March 30.

But Mr.Janaka Bandara Tennekon, Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils has written to President Mahinda Rajapakse to dissolve these local authorities as he has received complaints that political parties controlling these authorities are using the administrative machinery for their own propaganda for the forthcoming polls, sources said.

The Minister has requested the President to use his executive powers vested in him to dissolve these councils, sources said.