PARLIAMENT

610/2025

Hon. M. Nizam Kariapper, PC,— To ask the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government,— (1)

(a) Will he inform this House —

(i) whether he is aware that under previous administrations, certain Local Authorities and Divisional Secretariat Divisions were established based on ethnic considerations, allegedly driven by political objectives;

(ii) of the criteria that current government will follow in creating new Divisional Secretariat Divisions;

(iii) whether ethnic composition is considered a criterion in the creation of new Divisional Secretariat Divisions; and

(iv) of the steps that the government is taking to ensure that the creation of Local Authorities and Divisional Secretariat Divisions is based on objective criteria such as population density, geographical factors, and administrative feasibility (including the administrative language of official records) rather than ethnic or political considerations?

(b) If not, why?