Monitors give Batti polls clean bill of health

Rasika Somarathna

COLOMBO: PAFFREL, the largest election monitoring body in Sri Lanka, releasing their final pre-election report on the Batticaloa local polls called it as one of the "best behaved elections" in comparison to the polls conducted in recent times.

After nominations were called, some political parties including the TMVP and UNP withdrew from the race, citing that the prevailing conditions were not conducive to hold elections in the district. The major concern attributed for the withdrawal was the presence of armed groups moving freely in the area.

However, according to PAFFREL and Police, complaints regarding carrying arms for election purposes has not been reported todate.

According to PAFFREL Chairman Kingsley Rodrigo, Police had played a critical role taking care to ensure that the environment for elections was as secure and safe as possible.

He said PAFFREL had recieved 26 complaints so far with the majority of them being minor. Non of the cases had resulted in court cases being filed nor arrests being made.

According to latest reports, the campaign has begun to liven up in comparison to the subdued atmosphere a few weeks back. Pocket meetings, distribution of hand bills and door to door campaigning is in full swing, sources said.

Rodrigo addressing the media said this election had garnered unprecedented attention from local and international entities, and the end result was being closely monitored.

He stated that PAFFREL fully backed the people of Batticaloa to elect local authority representatives as in most other parts of the country.

Referring to his meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday, Rodrigo said the President had assured that all steps had been taken to conduct a free and fair poll in Batticaloa.

According to him the President had also reiterated the importance of holding Provincial Council Elections without delay, and that the wheels were moving to expedite the process.