Ex-HC to India Moragoda calls for abolition of Provincial Councils

‘We don’t need another unnecessary layer of administration’

Former High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda has called on political parties to consider abolishing the Provincial Council system as a priority action in their campaign manifestos for the forthcoming national elections.

The UNP recently announced its leader and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe would contest the presidential election in September this year followed by parliamentary poll in January 2025.

Founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, Moragoda reiterated his earlier proposal that Provincial Councils should be abolished and power directly devolved to empower the reconfigured Pradeshiya Sabhas, Urban Councils, and Municipal Councils instead.

In a statement that coincided with Thai Pongal, the former Minister pointed out that since these bodies operated closest to the citizenry, they were in a better position to address and solve community-level problems. Moragoda said that a small country of 22 million people does not require another unnecessary layer of administration. “This measure should be part of an overall strategy to restructure and modernize Sri Lanka’s governance and economy.”

Moragoda completed his term in New Delhi late last year and was replaced by retired top career diplomat Kshenuka Senewiratne.

The one-time UNPer advocated for a small, efficient, and people-centric government, which would include the removal of the Provincial Council layer and achieving the necessary coordination through a district-level framework which would consist of relevant Members of Parliament, existing key local government office-bearers, and other stakeholders. The original intent of the 13th Amendment, enacted in 1987, was to create more provincial autonomy in the hope of resolving Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem. Instead, this structure has proven to be superfluous, expensive, divisive and fraught with inefficiency.

Moragoda also proposed that rather than having an unnecessary layer of expensive administration, an empowered Senate/Upper House be set up to address issues concerning religious, ethnic, and regional diversity. A representative and properly composed forum of this nature would be best positioned to identify solutions for many of the complex issues facing the nation today.