Sri Lankan President plans to reduce number of Local Government members before next election

Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe. (BLOOMBERG / Buddhika Weerasinghe)
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that he intends to reduce the number of council members for local government bodies from 8,000 to 4,000, prior to the next election.
He said that he also intends to implement the Jana Sabha programme, the President’s Media Division said.
The executive power of the Pradeshiya Sabhas should be given to a chairman-based committee instead of a single chairman and draft laws will be prepared to incorporate these amendments prior to the next local government elections, President Wickremesinghe said.
Pointing out that the main cause of political corruption is the preference system, the President emphasised that a non-preference list system or a mixed election system should be adopted immediately and and restrictions should be imposed by the election law on the amount of money spent on elections.
Latest Headlines in Sri Lanka
- Vocational training is key to ending poverty – Chathuranga July 10, 2025
- Sri Lanka hikes imported milk powder prices July 10, 2025
- Sri Lankan Prisons overcrowded: 33,000 inmates in facilities built for 12,000 July 10, 2025
- U.S. imposes 30% tariff on Sri Lankan goods July 9, 2025
- Kehelbaddara Padme and Commando Salinda arrested in Malaysia July 9, 2025