EC Promises Int’l Monitors
By Raisa Wickrematunge
The Elections Commissioner has promised to provide local and international monitors in order to facilitate a free and fair election process, in a meeting with several opposition members on Friday.
UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya said the Elections Commissioner promised that there would be personnel from the EU, the Commonwealth, the Association of Asian election monitors and the UN to monitor the upcoming elections.
Jayasuriya said the focus was to ensure that all parties adhered to the principles implemented by the Elections Commission. He contended that previous provincial council elections had not been conducted in a free and fair manner. Among the topics discussed was the need to limit the misuse of state resources, the need for unbiased media coverage for all parties, and the need to resettle all the IDPs prior to the election.
Jayasuriya added that temporary ID cards would be issued to the 12% of voters who had no valid form of identification.
JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath said he did not think there was a possibility of a free and fair presidential election being conducted under the current regime.
Herath said that though they had not met the Elections Commissioner after the presidential elections were announced, the JVP had raised various issues on previous occasions with the Elections Commissioner. Herath charged there had been many election violations during the recent provincial council elections, combined with police inaction. “The Elections Commissioner wants to have a free and fair election, but he does not have the power to do so,” Herath said.
Herath stated that if there was a change in political leadership there was a high probability that elections would be conducted in a free and fair manner.
election comissioner is just a government official.He is helpless.if anyone need to see a free and fair election the first 17th amendment have to be implemnted.This governmetnt does not have a clean record of holding free and fair elections
This elections commissioner has had excuses at every election,that he is “helpless” to prevent abuses.Abuses are bound to occur on a massive scale at this presidential election.The presence of moniters both local and foreign, will not prevent this, as has been seen at every election upto now.This commissioner should be got rid of and his deputy who can very well take over, be appointed to the post. Why is he so “indespensable”?
This present election commissioner,was punished by the Supreme Court in the Fundamental Rights case filed by five voters of the northeast province in the aftermath of the general election held in December 2001. The court ruled that the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and the Commissioner of Elections had violated the fundamental rights of voters by preventing them castng their votes at that election.The State was ordered to pay Rs 100,000 to each peititioner,and the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army,Lionel Balagalle, to pay Rs 90,000 from his personal funds.The SC further ordered the Commissioner of Elections, Dayananda Dissanayake to pay Rs 1,000 to each peititioner from his personal funds.
The supreme court also held that “allowing President Chandrika Kumaratunge, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Deputy Defence Minister Anurudha Ratwatte and Speaker Anura Bandaranaike to cast their votes from their residences”,was against the law and had no legal validity.
In fact,thousands of voters were prevented from voting.
The bench comprised Justices Mark Fernando, Ameer Ismail and C.V.Vigneswaran.
This commissioner is being kept on as he appears to be a compliant lackey of the state.