Govt. urged to hold LG polls

Opposition political parties and civil society organisations said that the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government should conduct the much-delayed Local Government elections without trying to deceive the public.

PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said that there was no point in conducting workshops for Local Government officials in the absence of people’s representatives. The civil society activist said so responding to the conclusion of a three-day workshop for LG officials in the Southern Province. Hettiarachchi emphasized that he didn’t find fault with having workshops. The issue is the government has indefinitely put off both Local Government and Provincial Council polls.

The workshop in the Western Province was conducted two weeks ago. On both occasions Provincial Councils and Local Government State Minister Janaka Wakkumbura attended the closing ceremony.

The three-day workshop for the Northern Province would be conducted in the third week of September.

The NGO ‘One Text Initiative’ provided the funds for the project carried out by Sri Lanka Institute of Local Governance.

JJB MP Vijitha Herath said that the government couldn’t deceive the public by such worthless exercises (SF)