Jaffna Municipal Council 2023 budget defeated

By Dinasena Ratugamage

The 2023 budget for the Jaffna Municipal Council lost by seven votes on Wednesday.The budget was presented by Jaffna Mayor, S. Maniwannan. 11 councillors voted for the budget while 18 voted against it.

Several political parties including the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) abstained. There are 45 councillors at the Jaffna Municipal Council and 16 of them belong to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Among the other major players are the All Ceylon Tamil Congress and EPDP members with 10 members each.

S. Maniwannan was elected major of Jaffna in December 2020 after former Mayor E. Arnold was voted out of office after the 2021 budget for the Council was defeated. Arnold lost by one vote.