The last local government election was held in Jaffna in 1998.

Mar 28, Colombo: Local government elections for the Jaffna district will be held soon, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has told representatives of Tamil and Muslim political parties.

The statement came at a special meeting at Temple Trees with members of Tamil and Muslim political parties including the Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA), the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).

However, the President did not mention a specific timeframe for the polls, sources said.

Despite the repeated invitation, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) did not attend. It earlier said that they would participate at the meeting if the President agreed to meet several conditions.

The last local government election was held in Jaffna in 1998.