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| Wednesday, 24 March 2004 |
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by Manjula Fernando The People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) yesterday expressed their inability to use outside monitors for the North. We have to expect that the local polls monitors would be impartial and resistant to intimidation, PAFFREL Chairman Kingsley Rodrigo said. "It is not logistically possible to use outsiders to observe polling in Jaffna. We have to rely on people of Jaffna to monitor their own election." However, about 30 international observers would be deployed by them to oversee the election monitoring in the North and East on April 2, Rodrigo said yesterday. He was commenting on the EPDP's request to Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake not to allow PAFFREL use locals to monitor polling in the North as there was a possibility that they would be intimidated by the LTTE to ensure TNA's victory. The EPDP has requested only international or outside Sinhalese or Muslims as election observers for the North. Rodrigo said they will deploy 20,000 volunteers, 2,000 mobile monitors and 100 international observers on polls day. Two of their observers would be inside the polling station. However, the PAFFREL will not have observers at the counting centres. National Peace Council Media Secretary Jehan Perera, who has returned from a recent visit to Jaffna and Kilinochchi said the election atmosphere in the North was somewhat calm but intimidation of non-TNA candidates was continuing. |
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