Polls open in local elections in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's delayed local council elections underway, testing ruling NPP led by President Dissanayake, with over 17.1 million eligible voters.

The polls opened in Sri Lanka on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) for the delayed local council elections seen as a major electoral test for the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The voting started at 7 am and will end at 4 pm. Over 17.1 million voters are eligible to vote to elect 8,287 members of 339 local government bodies at 13,759 polling stations, election officials said.

Over 75,000 candidates from 49 political parties and 257 independent groups are in the fray. The elected candidates will be appointed for a 4-year term.

This would be the first electoral test for the current government led by President Dissanayake since it won the presidential and parliamentary elections in the last quarter of 2024.

The last local elections were held in the country in 2018.

However, the next local elections were postponed due to political unrest caused by the economic crisis in 2022. The elections were postponed twice in 2023 even after the dates were announced by the election commission.

The then government's decision not to hold the local election, citing a lack of finances amid the economic crisis, was challenged in court. The court ordered the early conduct of the poll.