Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) Manjula Gajanayake has said the Local Government Commissioners have created confusion and a severe erosion of public trust in the electoral process at local level by adhering to election laws and administrative guidelines selectively without adopting a consistent approach.
The authority to establish local government bodies— particularly the hung ones––has been granted to the Local Government Commissioners in the nine provinces. However, this process has now sparked controversy largely due to ambiguity over how to elect council heads.
At the heart of the issue is the Local Government Elections Act, which does not specify the procedures to be followed in electing the heads of local bodies. To address this issue, the Secretary to the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils has issued a 28-page set of guidelines. This guideline gained much attention during the election of the Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council, where opposition members claimed that the head of the council had to be elected according to the guidelines in question. However, the guidelines merely state, “Each member should be consulted, and the method of voting should be decided accordingly.”
The Opposition seemed to have ignored that there were three acceptable methods of voting––by a show of hands, through a secret ballot, or by using an electronic system, Gajanayake said. Still, the real issue lies in the application of the guidelines by the Local Government Commissioners.
For instance, the Western Province Commissioner opted for a secret ballot in the Colombo MC. In contrast, in many other councils, the voting method was determined based on the preference of the majority of members. In Local Government Institutions in Uva, North Central, and North Western provinces, where members called for open votes by the show of hands— the commissioners complied.
However, inconsistency re-emerged in the first meeting of the Seethawakapura Urban Council of the Colombo District in the Western Province. Out of 25 members,14 requested an open vote. The Commissioner, however, insisted on a secret ballot. As a result, all 14 members walked out in protest, and the meeting was adjourned without electing a head.
By PRIYAN DE SILVA 
