Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe presented a Cabinet paper last week seeking to introduce a mixed electoral system. Under the new system, 160 MPs will be elected under the First Past the Post System and 1nother 65 MPs under proportional representation.

Under FPTP, the candidate who receives the most votes in a local constituency wins a seat in the House. By contrast, PR is the idea that parties' seats in Parliament should be allocated so that they are in proportion to the number of votes cast.

The paper was referred to discussion among the representatives of various political parties in the House. Minister Rajapakshe who is currently in London told Daily Mirror over the phone that some parties were in favour of the proposals whereas others were against it.

The successive governments made similar efforts in the past to change the current electoral system of proportional representation. However, no piece of legislation could be enacted because of differences among the political parties.

Proportional representation is widely criticized because of discrepancies in the conduct of elections. Questions are now raised in political circles as to why the government opted to change the electoral system with elections around the corner.

DMN