ONE COMMON VOTING SYSTEM FOR ALL ELECTIONS:FAISZER

The Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly has proposed to elect 60 percent of the Parliament members under the first-past-the -post system and the 40 percent under the Proportional Representation (PR) system, Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government said yesterday.

Also the government mulls to apply the same ratio in electing the Provincial councils as well, a statement issued by the ministry said. Already the Local Authorities Act has been amended last month providing for this ratio to be applied in respect of local government bodies.

Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Mustapha is to submit a Cabinet memorandum today at the weekly Cabinet meeting to enable the government to take a policy decision on holding all three levels of election under the mixed electoral system applying the same ratio of members to be elected in those elections. The cabinet memorandum is to be presented with the aim of introducing a healthy election culture in future elections, the statement said. The minister also expects to hold discussions with all political parties on women and youth representation as well as the delimitation of wards for the provincial councils. The ministry The amendments to the local government election system recently passed in parliament with the provisions to include the election of representative in proportion of 60 to40 percent ratio is a significant turning point in history of Sri Lanka election system is also to obtain recommendation from a committee of experts on these matters.

According to the proposals, one common voting system would be introduced for all the elections enabling the voters to elect their own representative.

Meanwhile, Media Secretary of the Ministry Gotabaya Sumanasekara said the amendments to the local government election system recently passed in parliament with the provisions to include the election of representative in proportion of 60 to40 percent ratio is a significant turning point in history of Sri Lanka election system.