Political Parties Bill to Cabinet today

Ravi LADDUWAHETTY

COLOMBO: Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms, Minister of Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Dinesh Gunawardena will present two landmark Draft Bills for the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers at its weekly meeting today.

The first will be a new Draft Bill which will aim to recognize / de-recognise registered political parties and the second will be proposed amendments to the Local Authority Elections Ordinance, both of which will transform the political landscape of this country, Minister Gunawardena told the Daily News in an exclusive interview yesterday.

There are 60 registered political parties now and first of the two draft bills will aim to have minimum standards for political parties which are virtually defunct now, he said.

The Minister explained that under the new laws, political parties could be registered at National level and at Provincial level and that the national level parties will have to have a minimum of one Member represented in Parliament and that the Provincial Parties will have to poll a minimum of 5% of the total vote in the Province to remain as a registered party.

He said that the proposed Local Authority Elections Ordinance will also see the return of the Ward System which will be an amalgamation of 2-3 Grama Sevaka Divisions and where 70% of the seats will be allocated on the basis of First Past the Post (FPP) system and the remaining 30% on the Proportional Representation System.

The Select Committee will also ensure within the next month that sweeping reforms will be brought into the electoral system which will see the return of the First Past the Post (FPP) system where 140 MPs will be elected on that basis and a further 70 on the District Proportional Representation System.