The newly elected Colombo Municipal Council, following the conduct of the Local Government (LG) election on May 6, has convened for its inaugural sitting.

The sitting commenced at 9:30 a.m. under the patronage of the Commissioner of the Department of Local Government of the Western Province, Sarangika Jayasundara.

Meanwhile, a heated situation has arisen in the council regarding whether the Mayor is to be elected through a secret ballot or by holding an open vote.

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and the United National Party have requested an open vote.

The Commissioner noted that two names have been proposed for the post of Mayor.

According to reports, the National People’s Power (NPP) has proposed the name of Vraie Cally Balthazaar while the SJB has nominated the name of Riza Zarook for the post of Mayor.

However, the newly elected members continue to argue over the methodology in which the vote should be held to elect the Mayor.

Earlier, the gazette extraordinary regarding the first sitting of the Colombo Municipal Council was issued by the Commissioner of the Department of Local Government of the Western Province, Sarangika Jayasundara.

According to the gazette issued by the Commissioner, the inaugural sitting will commence at 9:30 a.m.

No party obtained an outright majority following the conduct of the LG election and therefore both the National People’s Power (NPP) and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) have announced in recent days that they have secured the backing of other political factions to elect a Mayor.

According to the LG election results, the National People’s Power (NPP) secured 48 seats, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) obtained 29 seats, the United National Party (UNP) won 13 seats, and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) gained 5 seats.

Additionally, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress received 4 seats, Independent Group No. 03 obtained three seats, the Sarvajana Balaya received two seats, and the United Peace Alliance also secured two seats according to the election results.

Independent Groups No. 04 and 05 received two seats each.

Furthermore, the United Republic Front, the National People’s Party, the National Freedom Front, the Podujana United Front, the Democratic National Alliance, Independent Group No. 01, and Independent Group No. 02 each received one seat.

However, to establish power in the Colombo Municipal Council, which consists of 117 seats, a party must secure at least 59 seats.

Accordingly, following the vote, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council will be appointed.