The National People's Power (NPP) is to contest the upcoming Local Government (LG) and Provincial Council (PC) Elections under its current structure, with the groups currently aligned with them.

Preparations are underway to conduct the Local Government (LG) and Provincial Council (PC) Elections in 2025, which were previously postponed due to reasons such as an alleged lack of funds and legal obstacles.

In response to a question by The Daily Morning as to how they would contest the said two elections, NPP General Secretary and Parliamentarian, Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe said that they would contest it under the existing structure. "There are several groups with us in the NPP now. We will contest the elections with them."

The NPP or the Jathika Jana Balawegaya, was formed as a coalition of left-wing parties to offer an alternative to the traditional political system. The NPP became the ruling party after winning the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary General Elections and is now the largest party in Parliament. The party is led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The LG Elections were originally set for March 2023, but the then Government failed to provide the necessary funds to the Election Commission (EC). As a result, the elections were rescheduled for April 2023. However, the funds were still not released, leading the EC to postpone the elections indefinitely. Meanwhile, the PC Elections have been delayed for an extended period due to a legal issue that originated from an attempted legal amendment by the United National Front (UNF) Government between 2015 and 2020.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved drafting a new bill to combat illegal and unregulated poaching in Sri Lankan waters, replacing the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No. 2 of 1996.

Sri Lanka Police has suspended its annual transfer orders for 2025 for six months. The suspension was based on a directive from Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya on 24 December.

The government is yet to assign vehicles to the MPs of the new Parliament though it has taken a policy decision to do so. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Daily Mirror yesterday that the government is currently in the process of auctioning luxury vehicles. He said most of the MPs were using their own vehicles at the moment.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna had decided to go to court over reducing the strength of security provided to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that it would disclose details about Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s planned official visit to China in mid-January “in a timely manner.”

The government will conduct fresh probes into the scams involved in the import of a stock of biofertilizer from China and in the introduction of organic farming during the time of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a minister said yesterday.

Cabinet spokesman Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said today that the people will know whether the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MPs had sought assistance from the President’s Fund as claimed by SJB MP Dayasiri Jayasekara when the rest of the list is released soon.

The circular issued by the Western Province Education Zonal Ministry prohibiting private tutoring classes for students by school teachers, along with the letter issued by the Education Ministry regarding modulators, has been withdrawn, Parliamentarian Mahinda Jayasinghe said.

Adding further controversy to the misuse of the President’s Fund, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Dayasiri Jayasekera yesterday said some of JVP members also sought assistance from the President’s funds prior to 2010.

In response to queries about the potential introduction of new taxes on imported vehicles, Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayathissa said today that the Finance Ministry will make an official announcement regarding taxes in the future.