Nalin Bandara Calls for Provincial Council Elections to Uphold Constitutional Promises

23-Aug-2025

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United People’s Power (SJB) Kurunegala District MP Nalin Bandara has urged the government to conduct long-delayed Provincial Council elections without further postponement and to grant constitutional administrative powers to the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces.

Speaking in Parliament on August 21 during the debate on the Manufacturing Solutions (Special Provisions) Act, financial regulations under the Finance Act, and regulations under the Construction Industry Development Act, Bandara stressed that the Provincial Council system was introduced as a solution to the ethnic issue and should not be undermined by broken promises.

“The government must not renege on its pledge to hold Provincial Council elections, as it has done with other promises. The President assured the people that elections would be held. However, nearly one year into his administration, no meaningful steps have been taken,” Bandara said.

He also criticized the government’s tax policies, noting that the dream of vehicle ownership for middle-class families had become “a mere illusion” due to exorbitant taxes. “Even a basic vehicle is now beyond the reach of ordinary citizens,” he remarked, adding that pre-election promises on affordable vehicle imports had been completely abandoned.

Touching on current labour unrest, Bandara pointed out that postal workers were striking over unmet demands. “Public servants and trade unions extended full support to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government. It is now the government’s responsibility to listen to their concerns,” he asserted.

Bandara welcomed the government’s move to legalize cannabis cultivation, calling it a “progressive step for economic recovery,” but criticized the choice of Meerigama as a cultivation site, suggesting instead that land belonging to the Board of Investment be allocated.