Professionals form NPOC

Rafik JALALDEEN

COLOMBO: The newly-established National Polls Observation Centre (NPOC) will monitor the forthcoming Sabaragamuwa and North Central Provincial elections to give a real picture of the election situation for the public, its officials said yesterday.

Addressing the media yesterday NPOC media spokesman Sagara Kariyawasam said around 50 professionals from various fields had established the NPOC to monitor the election process and educate people on democratic, free and fair elections.

“We, as professionals took part in this process to contribute to uplift democracy in the country and serve the public. The public have a right to know the correct and real situation of the election process,” he added.

NPOC member Athula de Silva said that it had appointed 20 agents for each district and each agent will coordinate

with their members from all divisions in each district to collect information and forward to the centre in Colombo. “This mechanism will be practiced for the forthcoming Sabaragamuwa and NCP election and will be implemented during elections in other areas too,” he added.

Kariyawasam asserted that election violence and incidents will be investigated deeply, independently and impartially. “Our aim is to give the real picture of the election process to the public. Therefore, we will probe such acts deeply and independently to find out root cause of the incident and bring them into the public knowledge,” he said.

He also noted that as most members of the NPOC were lawyers, they have more knowledge and skills to find truth. “We will also seek assistance to obtain certain information from police when necessary”, he added.

Answering to a question raised by a journalist whether the NPOC was allowed to monitor the forthcoming election at the polling centers , Kariyawasam said that the Election Commissioner was informed about the newly formed NPOC and the NPOC requested him to provide facilities to monitor the election process at the polling centres. Thy are waiting for a positive answer.

He also said that the NPOC raised the issue of banners and cutouts during the election campaign with IGP Jayantha Wickramaratne and the response was very positive.

People are free to contact the NPOC hotlines 060 2700275 or 060 2700277.