Valikamam West Divisional Council
Valikamam West Divisional Council or Chankanai Divisional Council''' is the local authority for Valikamam West DS Division in northern Sri Lanka. VWDC is responsible for providing a variety of local public services including roads, sanitation, drains, housing, libraries, public parks and recreational facilities. It has 25 members elected using a mixed electoral system, where 60% of members were elected using first-past-the-post voting and the remaining 40% through closed list proportional representation.
History
In 1987 there was a major re-organisation of local government in Sri Lanka. District Development Councils were abolished and replaced by Divisional Councils. The Pradeshiya Sabha Act No. 15 of 1987 was passed by Parliament on 15 April 1987 and on 1 January 1988 257 Divisional Councils started functioning. The Divisional Councils were generally commensurate with their namesake Divisional Secretary's Divisions. Valikamam West Divisional Council was established as the local authority for the Valikamam West DS Division. However, according to the pro-LTTE TamilNet, the Sri Lankan government had suspended all local government in the north and east of the country in 1983 using emergency regulations. The civil war prevented elections from being held for VWDC until 1998 as the LTTE did not hold elections when it controlled the area.In March 1994 elections were held in the east and in Vavuniya in the north. However, elections weren't held in other areas of the north, including the Jaffna peninsula, because most of these areas were at that time controlled by the rebel Tamil Tigers. In August 1995 the Sri Lankan military launched an offensive to recapture the Jaffna peninsula. By December 1995 the military had captured most of the Valikamam region of the peninsula, including the city of Jaffna. By 16 May 1996 the military had recaptured the entire peninsula. In late 1996 the government announced elections would be held for 23 local authorities in Jaffna District, Kilinochchi District, Mannar District and Vavuniya District but following opposition from [Sri Lankan Sri Lankan Tamil people|Tamil people|Tamil] political parties postponed them. On 3 December 1997 the government announced that elections would be held for the 17 local authorities on the Jaffna peninsula. The Tamil political parties were still opposed to holding elections as "normalcy" hadn't returned to the peninsula. The peninsula was under the firm grip of the Sri Lankan military and civil government had little, if any, role in the administration of the peninsula. The Tamil Tigers were also firmly against the elections being held. Despite these objections the elections were held on 29 January 1998.
Election results
1998 local government election
Results of the local government election held on 29 January 1998:! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! colspan=2| Valid ballots
! 6,325
! 100.0
! 14
! colspan=2| Rejected ballots
! 1,307
!
!
! colspan=2| Total polled
! 7,632
!
!
! colspan=2| Electorate
! 37,746
!
!
! colspan=2| Turnout
! 20.22%
!
!
2011 local government election
Results of the local government election held on 23 July 2011:! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! colspan=2| Valid ballots
! 15,578
! 100.0
! 14
! colspan=2| Rejected ballots
! 2,058
!
!
! colspan=2| Total polled
! 17,636
!
!
! colspan=2| Electorate
! 30,214
!
!
! colspan=2| Turnout
! 58.37%
!
!
2018 local government election
Results of the local government election held on 10 February 2018:! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! colspan=2| Valid ballots
! 23,577
! 100.0
! 25
! colspan=2| Invalid ballots
! 506
! 2.1
!
! colspan=2| Total polled
! 24,083
! 70.24
!
! colspan=2| Electorate
! 34,292
!
!
2025 local government election
Results of the 2025 local government election held on 6 May 2025:! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! colspan=2| Valid ballots
! 21,175
! 97.67
! 22
! colspan=2| Rejected ballots
! 506
! 2.33
! —
! colspan=2| Total polled
! 21,681
! 55.94
! —
! colspan=2| Electorate
! 38,756
! —
! —