Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today informed Parliament that the government is planning to hold the Local Government Elections before the next Sinhala/Hindu New Year.

This announcement came days after two contradictory statements from two ministers.

The government had earlier said that the Local Government Elections will be held in March 2016. However, State Minister of Finance Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena recently said that the government will not be able to hold the election in March due to complaints over delimitation of constituencies.

However, Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faizer Mustapha later said that the elections will be held as planned.

The Sinhala Hindu New Year falls in mid-April. Therefore, the elections are now likely to be held before mid-April.