The terms of 234 out of 335 Local Government Bodies will end today. The government has indicated that these will be put under the control of special commissioners. This issue has created a difference of opinion among political parties.

Minister Kabir Hashim recently said that the ideal step would be to call for the elections in the LG bodies after their terms expired. However, since the General Election should be called within the next few weeks, there is a difficulty in holding LG elections at the moment, he said.

Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva recently said that the best thing would be to extend the terms of the LG Bodies. However, at a recent meeting, President Maithripala Sirisena said that he was not satisfied with most of the LG bodies and therefore it will be better to put them under the administration of a Commissioner.

Meanwhile, National Freedom Front recently said that such a step would be advantageous to the United National Party and will weaken the grass-root level support of the SLFP.