The budget of the Jaffna Municipal Council presented by the new mayor of Jaffna for the year 2023 was defeated by a majority of eight votes.
There were 40 members in the House when the vote was taken on the budget proposal presented by the mayor, out of which 24 members voted against the budget and 16 members voted for it.
Earlier in December last year, when the Jaffna Municipal Council’s budget proposal for the year 2023 was presented to the council, the budget was defeated for the first time by a majority of seven votes.
Manivannan, who was the mayor at the time, refused a request for a second reading of the budget and resigned from the post of mayor.
Thereafter, the councilors did not participate in the vote to elect a new mayor, so the local government commissioner appointed Emmanuel Arnold as mayor according to the powers vested in him.
He was the mayor of the Jaffna Municipal Council before Manivannan.
After the 2023 budget proposal was defeated, the mayor is yet to announce the next step.
