PM predicts 70% voter turnout at General Elections

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and outgoing German Ambassador Jörn Rohde greet each other yesterday during the latter’s farewell call at Temple Trees 

With initial indications of high voter turnout during the recent postal voting period, Prime Minister Rajapaksa says even with the COVID-19 situation, at least a 70% voter turnout can be expected at the General Election on 5 August.

The Prime Minister made these comments during a discussion with the German Ambassador in Sri Lanka Jörn Rohde, when he made a farewell call at Temple Trees last morning. Ambassador Rohde is completed a four-year tenure as the Ambassador for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Discussing bilateral ties, the Ambassador said Germany’s policy towards Sri Lanka hasn’t changed, and it will always be supportive. Diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Germany go back 66 years. A key priority for Sri Lanka now is to attract investors, especially after the grave impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the economy.

The Ambassador also informed Prime Minister Rajapaksa that similar to the Sri Lankan-German Training Institute that was established in Killinochchi in 2016, another two will be set up in Matara and Ratmalana.

Ambassador Rohde also said that he plans to keep visiting Sri Lanka and that he hopes tourism will return to normalcy soon, noting that European countries are also experiencing similar problems in the tourism sector due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

Germany has been one of Sri Lanka’s most reliable markets for tourism. A total of 1,495,055 tourists had visited Sri Lanka by 31 October 2019. Germany is the source of the second highest in tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka from Europe.