Minister of Local Government Janaka Bandara Tennakoon has placed before the Cabinet the proposed local government election laws relating Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas.

After the Cabinet gives the green light, the proposed legislation will be presented in Parliament for approval, government sources said.

When The Sunday Island contacted the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms, Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, he said that the new laws in the offing opened a new page in Local Government as once again, the Ward System will have 70% of the elected members whilst 30% would be elected under the PR system.

Representation of women had been ensured and the Wards will have Development Committees composed of the community representatives which will usher a new era to local government as envisaged under the Mahinda Chinthanaya.

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms in particular which recommended this change appreciates this forward step to implement the necessary reforms that will replace the Preferential System known as ‘Manape’ that has left many areas without elected representatives, he said.

"Our recommendations on the reports submitted by the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake for new laws to be enacted in relation to recognition and de-recognition of Political Parties have also reached its legal final draft and vetted by Attorney General C.R.de Silva to be presented to Cabinet shortly", Gunawardena said.

There is no necessity for any recognized Party to feel insecure as the new laws would provide everyone a chance at the next elections to show their voter base either as an Alliance or separately which will be favourable in the implementation of this proposal when enacted, he explained.

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms is proceeding with its deliberations to make a final recommendation in relation to the Provincial Council Elections and the Parliamentary Elections Reforms.

"We will be also introducing a new election law to bring the Electronic Voting System for elections which will prevent impersonation, reduce costs drastically and bring results faster than what we have experienced", he noted.

The recommendations have come about after the Select Committee Members maintained a continuous dialogue with the support of the Committee members, the public organizations that came before the committee, the Commissioner of Elections, Legal Draftsmen, Attorney General’s Department, Census and Statistics Department, Ministry of Local Government and other professionals who have been assisting the Select Committee.