COLOMBO: Voting was underway on Saturday in the Sri Lankan Local Government (LG) elections, seen as an unofficial referendum on the performance of the unity Government so far. It was the first election to be held since the current Sri Lankan Government came to power in 2015 is being held under tight security. Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Wickremesinghe’s United National Party are contesting the elections separately with the main challenge coming from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Local Government elections will be held from 700 am to 400 pm (Sri Lanka Standard Time) on Saturday to elect 8,325 candidates for 340 Local Government bodies. The counting of votes and postal votes will commence after the conclusion of voting.

Source: Pakistan Today February 10, 2018 11:26 UTC