Local government polls will be held before the end of February, according to officials.
Sri Lanka has announced the first nationwide elections since the country’s president fled and resigned in the face of widespread protests, which will be a test of his successor.
Local government polls will be held before the end of February, officials said Wednesday, after they were delayed by a year due to the pandemic.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who replaced his ousted predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa, could face difficulty in the vote, as he is the sole representative of his party in parliament.
The months of severe shortage food, fuel and electricity since the end of 2021 has led to mass incitement against the government of Rajapaksa defaulted on the country’s $46 billion foreign debt in April.
Wickremesinghe, 73, a six-time prime minister, won the parliamentary vote to replace Rajapaksa with the backing of Rajapaksa’s SLPP party but without a popular term.
He reversed the tax cuts ordered by his predecessor and raised prices as inflation hit a record near 70%.
Wickremesinghe also ordered the suppression of anti-government protests.
In the most recent local elections in 2018, his United National Party won only 10% of the 340 assemblies, while losing to the SLPP 231.
He tried to delay the polls, saying the bankrupt nation could not afford to spend the 10 billion rupees ($27.6 million) it would have to pay, but the Independent Election Commission continued.
In a brief statement, the Election Commission said nominations for more than 8,000 councilor positions would be open from January 18 to 21, after which voting must be held within 28 days. .
Local polls, set for February, cannot bring down the current national government.
Wickremesinghe will have the power to dissolve the current parliament when it completes half of its five-year term on February 20, but he has shown no sign of wanting to conduct a snap parliamentary poll.
According to the constitution, a presidential election cannot be held until the last quarter of 2024.
