The Government has informed the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) that Provincial Council elections will be held once the ongoing delimitation process is completed.
This assurance was made in the Government’s written response to a recent OHCHR report on Sri Lanka’s human rights situation, which highlighted that provincial council polls under the 13th Amendment have not been held since 2014.
The Government noted that in May 2025 it made arrangements to hold the long-delayed local government elections scheduled for 2022, and reiterated its commitment to conducting provincial polls once the delimitation is finalised.
It also stated that the November 2024 general election resulted in one of the most inclusive parliaments in the country’s history, with a record number of women and representatives from diverse communities, including two female MPs from the Malaiyaha community and a visually impaired MP elected for the first time.
However, the OHCHR report pointed out that despite 22 women MPs being elected — doubling female representation to 9.8% — only two women, including the Prime Minister, were appointed to the Cabinet, with the figure still below the regional average of 22.1%.
