North Central, Sabaragamuwa PCs dissolved
Polls dates to be announced:
Uditha Kumarasinghe and Irangika Range
COLOMBO: The Government dissolved the North Central and Sabaragamuwa
Provincial Councils with effect from midnight yesterday through two
special gazette notifications issued by the Governors of the two
provinces.
According to the powers vested in the Governors, the two provincial
councils were dissolved through two special gazette notifications.
Accordingly the dates for the elections in the two provinces will be
announced shortly. The Elections Commissioner will inform the dates for
calling nominations for these two Provincial Councils.
Former North Central Province Chief Minister Berty Premalal
Dissanayake told the Daily News last night that difficulties had been
encountered in performing administrative functions of the two Provincial
Councils due to obstructions by the UNP and JVP.
Therefore both Chief Ministers have given their consent to go for an
election at this juncture due to a number of obstacles faced by them in
their councils.
"We had to face various difficulties to implement development
projects in these two provinces as the UNP and JVP when combined had
majority power in the two councils.
When we try to pass some resolutions, various allegations and
interruptions are made by these two parties. Therefore, two Chief
Ministers agreed to dissolve the two Provincial Councils and declare
elections in the two provinces," he said.
"The election is slated for August and we are getting ready to work
out political strategies for it," he said.
Karunaratne Divulgane is the Governor of the North Central Province (NCP)
while Dickson Dela Bandara is the Governor, Sabaragamuwa Province (SGP).
Berty Premalal Dissanayake was the Chief Minister of the North Central
Provincial Council (NCPC) while Maheepala Herath was the Chief Minister
of the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council (SGPC).
The NCP includes Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts consisting of
33 PC seats. Kegalle and Ratnapura districts come under the purview of
the SGP comprising 44 PC seats.
The present NCPC was established on August 11, 2004 while the SGPC
was established on August 16, 2004. |
