Poll free and fair, say Foreign Monitors
Rasika SOMARATHNA
COLOMBO: The international election monitoring group, the Association
of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA), called the May 10 polls in East as
one of the best behaved and effectively conducted elections they had
ever witnessed.
Releasing their observation report on the polls yesterday, the AAEA
said that the elections were totally free and fair and that they had not
encountered a single untoward incident during their monitoring process.
The AAEA comprised 17 members from 10 Asian countries, with the team
including eminent personalities in their respective countries including
several elections commissioners in their ranks, who had a thorough
experience in international election observations.
Group leader Ming-Hwa Tsai said the team had been divided into three
groups and had done an extensive monitoring process before arriving at
the conclusion.
The AAEA praised the conduct of polling agents, election and security
authorities for their active participation in the process which they
called as one which acted as an effective form of check-and-balance
preventing malpractices. They also noted that the professionalism
demonstrated by the election administrators had greatly contributed to
the credibility of the result.
The AAEA also praised the behaviour of the Eastern polity, describing
the voter participation, discipline and enthusiasm as exemplary. The
AAEA pointed out that this in itself was ample testimony to their
understanding of the importance of the electoral exercise and adhering
to democratic norms.
The AAEA concluding their mission said the fact that people
themselves embraced the elections, more than anything else, proved that
the poll was free and fair. |