The Galle Municipal Council is the local council for Galle, the capital city of Southern Province of Sri Lanka, the third level administrative division of the country. The council was established under the Municipalities Ordinance of 1865 as the third municipal council of Sri Lanka. Wijeyananda Dahanayake was the first elected mayor of the city, who was appointed in 1939. He later went on to become the fifth Prime Minister of Ceylon. The current mayor of Galle is Priyantha Godagama Sahabandu.
Geography The Galle Four Gravets is in area. The average elevation above sea level is .
Administrative units Galle Municipal Council is divided into 50 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions), with seven villages.
Population The current population of Galle Four Gravets area, according to 2011 Census, is 101,159, a decline from the population of 103,246 in 2001.
+EthnicityPopulation% Of TotalSinhalese 67,470 67.0Sri Lankan Moors 32,711 32.3Sri Lankan Tamils 709 0.7Indian Tamils 129 0.8Other (including Burgher, Malay) 140 0.13Total 101,159 100
Mayor
The Mayor of Galle is the head of Galle Municipal Council and his office is located at the Galle Town Hall. The current mayor is Priyantha Godagama Sahabandu, who was elected into office, subsequent to the 2018 Sri Lankan local elections, in a secret ballot held on 23 March 2018. Sahabandu was elected to the position of mayor obtaining 20 votes to 11 over his rival candidate, Jilith Nishantha of the UNP.
Representation The Galle Municipal Council is divided into 15 wards and is represented by 35 councillors, elected using an open list proportional representation system.
2025 local government election
2018 local government election Results of the local government election held on 8 February 2018:
Alliances and parties Votes % Seats United National Party 22,270 40.17% 14 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna 20,096 36.25% 13 United People's Freedom Alliance (NC, ACMC, SLFP et al.) 5,532 9.98% 3 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 5,177 9.34% 3 United National Freedom Front 1,265 2.28% 1 Independent 2 896 1.62% 1 Independent 1 206 0.37% 0Valid Votes 55,442 100.00% 35 Rejected Votes 1,026 Total Polled 56,468 Registered Electors 71,858 Turnout 78.58%
2011 local government election Results of the local government election held on 8 October 2011:
Alliances and parties Votes % Seats United People's Freedom Alliance (NC, ACMC, SLFP et al.) 23,539 55.39% 11 United National Party 16,137 37.97% 7 Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 1,085 2.55% 1 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 164 1.44% 0 Independent 3 87 0.20% 0 Janasetha Peramuna 17 0.04% 0 Independent 4 10 0.02% 0 United Lanka Great Council (Eksath Lanka Maha Sabha) 9 0.02% 0 Independent 6 9 0.02% 0 Independent 2 8 0.02% 0 Independent 1 6 0.01% 0 Ruhuna People's Party (Ruhunu Janatha Party) 4 0.01% 0 Independent 5 3 0.01% 0Valid Votes 42,494 100.00% 19 Rejected Votes 1,179 Total Polled 43,673 Registered Electors 64,720 Turnout 67.48%
The Galle Municipal Council has five standing committees each headed by committee chairman. The standing committees are Finance and Tender, Works and Solid Waste, Health and Sanitisation, Electricity and Water, and Environment.
References
External links Galle Municipal Council website