The term of office of 340 out of the 341 local government bodies is set to expire at midnight today (March 19).

Following the 2018 Local Government election, which saw the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) securing a majority of the seats, the next local elections were originally scheduled to be held last year.

However, the local elections were postponed indefinitely due to the exacerbated economic situation and the political instability in the country.

Thereby, the term of office of local government bodies was extended for a period of one year.

Although the new members were supposed to be elected for the local government bodies prior to the expiration of the tenure, the elections have been rescheduled to April 25, after being initially scheduled for March 09.

After the tenure of the local government bodies expires, the authority of 29 municipal councils will be transferred to the municipal commissioners, while the authority of the 36 municipal councils and the 275 local councils is transferred to the secretaries of relevant institutions.

However, the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha, which was established later than the other local government bodies, will not expire at midnight today.

Meanwhile, all heads and members of local government bodies have been asked to return the official vehicles provided to them before the expiration of the term of office.