The Chairman of the Elections Commission says that the Local Government elections will be held on or before February 17, 2018. 

However, the election will not be held on a public holiday or a Sunday, he said. Chairman of the commission Mahinda Deshapriya made this observation during a press briefing held in Colombo today (4).  

He said that the Elections Commission will consider the requests made by political parties and business community to hold the elections on a Saturday and not on a weekday.

He said that they had pointed out that holding the election on a weekday would have an impact on the economy and therefore the matter would be taken into consideration.

Deshapriya said that the Commission would decide on the exact date in the near future and announce it to the public. 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had said that the elections will be held on the first Saturday after Independence Day (Feb. 04). The first Saturday after Independence Day in February 10. 

The Chairman further said that conducting an election in Sri Lanka costs around Rs 3,000 million and that they expect this figure to be surpassed at this election as this is the first time polls are being held for all LG bodies on the same day. 

He also said that polling will end at 4.00pm and that for the first time in history counting will begin at 5.00pm.