The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance has informed the National Election Commission that it is not possible to provide the necessary funds for holding the local government elections.
Due to the current financial situation, it is difficult to provide money for the election, the officials including the Secretary of the Finance Ministry have stated in the discussion held today (17) with the Election Commission.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance has also recalled the administrative decision taken by the government to allocate money only for maintaining essential services.
But the election is not named as an essential service.
Earlier, the National Election Commission announced that the postal voting related to local government elections has been postponed.
Postal voting related to local government elections was scheduled to be held on February 22, 23, 24, and 28.
The Commission had revealed that the postal voting has been postponed due to the non-receipt of postal ballots from the government printing press.
Mrs. Gangani Liyanage, the Chief of the Government Printing Office, revealed that her institution has not been able to print the ballots because they have not been given enough money for that.
