A Sri Lankan senior minister announced the government's plans to hold provincial elections in all nine provinces towards the end of 2021, The Times of India reported on March 30. The decision was made during a Cabinet meeting on March 29, but remains contingent upon conversations with all the political parties that would take part in the election cycle. Why It Matters: Abroad, Sri Lanka's decision to hold provincial elections will satisfy the international community in the near term. It will fail, however, to establish the country's commitment on other aspects of the recent U.N. Human Rights Council resolution passed last week, particularly those focused on potential war crimes that occurred during the country's 30-year civil war. Domestically, the decision will spark heated debate over the official representation of the Tamil ethnic minority in the country's government.