Conducive situation for peaceful PC polls - Deputy Elections Commissioner

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

The situation of polling districts in Eastern, North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces, is conducive to a free, fair and peaceful Provincial Council election, Deputy Elections Commissioner M M Mohammed said yesterday from Batticaloa. .

Deputy Elections Commissioner Mohammed said he was inspecting the conditions of electoral districts.

He said , although there have been some election law violations reported from some areas , there were no major incidents.

“Law and order has been kept in the three provinces,” he said.

“We have set up five Election Complaint Centers in the Anuradhapura district where more than 80 law violations have been reported, “ he said and added, ‘”the situation is under control.” According to sources at Election Secretariats complaint centers, the second highest number of complaints were reported from the Ampara district.

According to the Election Secretariat, there have been no incidents of physical harm among the incidents reported. There were incidents where some vehicles and property were damaged. Even these are very few in relation to election related violations that were committed during past elections, sources pointed out.

Sources at People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said the number of election violations have been low at this election compared to other elections. Deputy Election Commissioner Mohommed said they have facilitated PAFFREL and the Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) to observe the election process.

“We have also invited representatives of contesting political parties to observe the election,” he said. For 35 members to be elected for Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee districts in the Eastern Province a total of 1,470 candidates are contesting from 45 political parties and 55 independent groups.

For 31 seats in the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts in the North Central Province, a total of 544 candidates are contesting from 18 political parties and 12 independent groups, while for 42 seats in the Ratnapura and Kegalle districts in the Sabaragamuwa Province, 1,059 candidates are contesting from 42 political parties and 26 independent groups for Provincial Council Election on September 8.