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Elections Commissioner, Dayananda Dissanayake, confirmed that the Elections Department would invite eighty election monitors from the European Union to monitor Sri Lanka’s general elections scheduled for December 5. The European Union sent a seventy seven-member delegation to monitor the last general election held in October 2000. The delegation submitted a 78-page report with wide ranging recommendations including the establishment of an independent elections commission. In a rare demonstration of bipartisanship, Sri Lanka’s Parliament last month passed by a two-thirds majority, a law for the establishment of several independent commissions including an independent elections commission. The Elections Commissioner confirmed that he would use the new powers vested in him under the recently passed 17th Amendment, to hold a free, fair and peaceful election. Under the provisions of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, the Elections Commissioner can issue directives to the state media to ensure a balanced and fair coverage for all parties during the election campaign. The Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives [CPA], Dr Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu confirmed that they would be carrying out normal monitoring activities as they did during previous election through the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence [CMEV], which is a part of the Centre for Policy Alternatives. The information will be updated at the CMEV website. The Centre for Monitoring Election violence will bring down foreign observers to work with the local groups that will be monitoring the December elections.
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