Lahiru Pothmulla Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Chairman Professor G.L. Peiris today said they would constitute action in the Supreme Court (SC) asking for a writ against the Election Commission (EC) over its failure to hold elections for the dissolved Provincial Councils (PC).

Addressing the weekly SLPP news briefing, he said the writ would be sought against the EC to compel it to discharge its constitutional duty and to hold the PC elections without further delay.

The current session of the Supreme Court will come to an end this week and therefore, I, as the Chairman of the SLPP will constitute action in the SC during its next session which is at the end of August. The SLPP will do so to ensure the people’s right of exercising vote which is a part of sovereignty as assured by the article (3) of the Constitution,” he said.

He said six out of the nine PCs would be defunct by October this year with the latest dissolving of the PCs of Central, North Western and Northern by October.

He said the government brought the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment). Act, No. 17 of 2017 to replace the Provincial Councils Elections Act (No. 2 of 1988), but the new Act never went through all processes of Parliament.