Asian polls team begin activities from Jan 23

Presidential Election observers from the Asian Election Observers union will start their observation activities covering all districts from January 23 under the sponsorship of the Elections Department while the Commonwealth Election observers will conduct their observation work under their own program, said Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake in a press release issued yesterday.

The release said the observer team from the Asian Election Observers Union arrived on Wednesday and met Presidential Candidates and their agents yesterday. (From January 23 they will meet regional election agents at District level and also observe polling and the counting of votes.

They are due to hand over their report to the Elections Commissioner on January 28.

The release said that according to an agreement reached by the Elections Commissioner with secretaries of the respective parties and the candidates, the United Nations Organization, the Commonwealth, European Union and the Asian Election Observers Union were invited to observe the forthcoming Presidential election.

Although the UNO agreed to the invitation, it informed its inability to participate at short notice saying that at least three months prior notice was necessary to prepare the logistical arrangements.

The European Union too has informed its inability to participate in the observation work.