All 28 Municipal Councils, 36 Urban Councils, and 275 Pradeshiya Sabhas must convene, elect their leadership, and begin functioning—including adopting budgets—by the end of this month. With nearly half of these bodies yet to be formally constituted, the next two weeks are expected to be marked by a flurry of secret ballots, eleventh-hour deals, and anxious number-crunching—especially for the Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
Opposition political parties – including the SLPP, SJB, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), and a number of Independent groups – are currently locked in behind-the-scenes negotiations to form coalitions in Local Councils where no single party has secured a clear majority.
The inaugural meeting of the newly elected Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is scheduled to convene at 9.30 a.m. tomorrow (June 16) at the Colombo Town Hall. This special sitting, summoned under a Gazette notification issued by the Western Province Local Government Commissioner, will see the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as its first order of business.
With no party securing an outright majority in the 119-Seat Council, the leadership positions will be determined through an internal vote. If a single group commands at least 50 percent of the seats, it can appoint the Mayor and Deputy Mayor directly. Otherwise, Council members will vote by secret ballots – the more likely outcome in this case.
The National People’s Power (NPP), which emerged as the leading party in Colombo, has officially named Vraie Cally Balthazar as its Mayoral candidate.
SJB MP Mujibur Rahuman announced Riza Zarook as the unified Opposition’s nominee – a pick reportedly endorsed by the SJB, United National Party (UNP), Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), signalling a rare moment of Opposition unity.
This coalition arrangement could prove decisive in the Council’s internal vote, potentially allowing the Opposition bloc to clinch both top posts and shut the NPP out of key leadership roles — despite its strong showing in the Local Government polls.
The outcome in Colombo is expected to mirror similar battles across other local authorities, where Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Chairmen, and Vice Chairmen are currently being selected. These appointments are expected to continue until the end of the month.
A discussion was held at the Opposition Leader’s office in Colombo on forming Local Government bodies in the Puttalam District, with the participation of representatives from the SJB, SLPP, and the Sri Lanka Podujana United Front.
Following the meeting, former MP Charitha Herath said that where the Opposition has secured a majority of seats, the Councils should be formed by the Opposition, and the ruling NPP should allow that process to proceed.
Former MPs and Ministers of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna — including Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Nimal Lansa, and Susil Premajayantha — also held discussions on Friday at the SLFP headquarters regarding the formation of Local Councils. Nawa Janatha, Front leader Sugeeshwara Bandara, told the media following this meeting that the Mayor of Colombo would be a person nominated by the Opposition alliance.
For Opposition parties, the strategy is clear: build workable majorities through coalition deals to assert political control at the grassroots — and to limit the NPP’s institutional reach. The NPP, despite securing 43 percent of the national vote, has found its seats scattered too thinly in many Councils to gain control outright.
Having suffered major defeats in both the Presidential and parliamentary elections, the Opposition parties now see the Local bodies as their chance to reassert influence — and they are going all in to prevent the NPP from dominating governance at the local level.
Coalition manoeuvres
While the National People’s Power (NPP) emerged as the largest single party at the May 6 Local Government elections, forming stable administrations in many Councils has proven to be a political balancing act. Without outright majorities in most local bodies, the NPP’s ability to assert unchallenged control is now being tested across the country.
So far, 161 of Sri Lanka’s 339 Local Government institutions have been officially constituted and have begun functioning, according to the Election Commission. These include 28 Municipal Councils, 36 Urban Councils, and 275 Pradeshiya Sabhas. However, in most Councils, the road to power is far from straightforward.
Madadumbara Pradeshiya Sabha
The National People’s Power (NPP) has succeeded in establishing control of the Madadumbara Pradeshiya Sabha in the Kandy District, despite the Opposition holding a majority of seats.
Ravindra Prabath Uswetakeyyawa of the NPP was elected Chairman of the Council after members of Sarwajana Balaya abstained from voting, tipping the balance in favour of the NPP.
The Opposition bloc – comprising the SJB, Sarwajana Balaya, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), United National Party (UNP), and United National Alliance (UNA) – had held a numerical advantage prior to the vote.
However, the abstention by Sarwajana Balaya members allowed the NPP to clinch leadership of the local authority.
NPP victory in Uva Paranagama
At the Uva Paranagama Pradeshiya Sabha, Jinadasa Ratnayake of the NPP was elected Chairman with 22 votes, defeating Subasena of the SJB, who polled 17. A secret ballot was held, with one vote rejected. The Jana Aragala Sandhanaya group abstained from voting.
In a dramatic tie for the Vice Chairmanship, Tanuja Rasanjali (NPP) and Saminda Sudarshana (SLPP) each received the same number of votes. A draw of lots was held to break the deadlock, and Rasanjali was declared the winner. The NPP holds 20 of the 41 seats in this Council, giving it a working majority – but only just.
Akurana: SJB takes control
In Akurana, the Opposition bloc led by the SJB took control of the Pradeshiya Sabha. I.M. Isthihar (SJB) was elected Chairman with a majority of three votes. His rival, Tariq Ali of the NPP, secured 13 votes. Out of the 30-member Council, only 29 members voted due to one absence.
The post of Deputy Chairman went to Y.G. Chaminda Thilakarathna (SLPP), who received 18 votes, while Wasanth Kumara of the NPP garnered just 11 — another indication of how coalition politics is blunting the NPP’s local gains.
Haldummulla: NPP claims leadership
In Haldummulla, the NPP successfully formed the Council. Jagath Kumara Rajapaksa was elected Chairman with 11 votes. The Vice Chairmanship was won by R. Murgesan, a member of an Independent group. Here, the NPP won nine seats, the SJB six, and the UNP and SLPP one seat each — a result that allowed the NPP to build a working majority with non-party support.
Power in numbers
The NPP claimed majorities in 161 out of the 339 Councils, and it secured the most seats (265) overall, equivalent to 43 percent of the national vote. However, those votes were not always geographically concentrated enough to deliver absolute control. The party secured more than 50 percent of the seats in only 72 Councils, meaning that in most places, governance depends on coalitions or favorable vote splits.
By contrast, ITAK (Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi) won majorities in 35 Councils, but achieved outright control (50 percent or more of seats) in just three.
Coalition game continues
The political tussle over Councils is ongoing. Many local authorities are still in the process of being established. Elections for Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen, Mayors, and Vice Mayors — largely conducted via secret ballot — are still under way. In this landscape, political alliances and tactical abstentions could prove more decisive than vote share.
Despite its impressive national performance, the NPP now finds itself operating in a highly fragmented political arena where winning elections and winning Councils are not the same. For the Opposition parties, especially the SJB, SLPP, UNP, and SLMC, forming working majorities is the key strategy to sideline the NPP from translating its electoral support into governing power.
The SJB secured a majority in 14 Local Government bodies and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) in six. They failed to get 50 percent of the seats in any of the Local Government bodies.
Other Independent groups won a majority in 19 Local Government bodies, but only one Local Government body exceeded the 50 percent threshold.
For Councils where the NPP did not achieve a majority as a single party, the formation process follows a structured protocol to establish governance. There are about 130 Councils where the NPP had not secured an outright majority.
As per law, the leadership positions of these Councils- Municipal, Urban or Pradeshiya Sabhas- are typically filled by the party or coalition that commands the largest number of seats.
The formation of Local Government Councils where no single party or group secures a majority is governed by the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Act No. 01 of 2025. Under this Act, if no single party or Independent group holds 50 percent or more of the total membership in a local authority, the leadership positions—such as Mayor and Deputy Mayor in Municipal and Urban Councils, or Chairman and Vice Chairman in Pradeshiya Sabhas—are elected by secret ballot on the first sitting day of the newly constituted local authority.
The primary purpose of the Act was to reschedule the Local Government elections that had originally been set for March 2023 but were postponed due to various reasons, including the political situation and administrative delays.
The Act in this case allowed for fresh elections to be held in 2025, ensuring that Councils were formed and operated in accordance with the democratic process.
It provided a new framework for the establishment of Local Government bodies. These bodies needed to be fully constituted by June 2025, with elections being held to determine their new members to the Pradeshiya Sabhas, Municipal Councils and the Urban Councils.
Its purpose is to ensure that local governance continued without gaps or interruptions.
The NPP secured 3,927 Council seats, representing 43.26 percent of the total vote share at the 2025 local poll. This poll was held after a seven-year hiatus.
The Election Commission mandated that all newly elected Local Government bodies—comprising 28 Municipal Councils, 36 Urban Councils, and 275 Pradeshiya Sabhas—commence their functions by June 2, 2025. This directive follows the enactment of the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Act No. 01 of 2025, which was passed by Parliament on February 17, 2025, and gazetted on February 19, 2025. According to this legislation, the term of office for these local authorities is set to begin on June 2, 2025.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) won 1,767 seats with 21.69 percent of the vote, while the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) secured 742 seats, a decrease from their previous 3,436 seats. Other parties such as Sarvajana Balaya (SB), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), and Independent groups also secured seats, contributing to the overall distribution of council seats.
UNP chairman Vajira Abeywardena said, “About 25 Opposition groups”—from the SLPP and SLMC to the Northern and Eastern provincial parties—have signalled willingness to back joint slates “Wherever the NPP cannot form power.”
SJB MPs Nalin Bandara and Mujibur Rahman said this bloc can capture ‘about 130’ Councils, although party sources concede a more conservative target of “80 plus” is realistic. Bandara is blunt: “Every party’s aim is to stop the NPP.”
The Opposition political party Secretaries have held a series of meetings following the Local Poll regarding the establishment of power in Local Government institutions by bringing together Opposition groups.
SJB MP Nalin Bandara said that their party is set claim top positions such as the Chairmanship and the Mayorship of the Local Government bodies with the Opposition groups coming together. He said the SJB has the largest number of members, next to the ruling NPP.
According to the SJB MPs the aim of every political party is not to give power to the ruling party, NPP. Given this scenario most of the political parties will extend their support to the SJB to set up Local Government institutions.
Former Minister Duminda Dissanayake , who was arrested over the detection of an assembled T-56 weapon without a licence, had told the media that the SLPP has unanimously decided to give its support to any political party that would form the Councils against the Government.
The leader of the Democratic Leaders’ Front (DLF) and Tamil Progressive Alliance MP Mano Ganeshan had said that based on the mandate they have received, they will establish Councils wherever it is democratically possible.
Sarvajana Balaya leader Dilith Jayaweera said that his party still stands by its previous stance of not joining forces with any political party to establish power.
