Saturday, 13 July 2013 00:27
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Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya expects foreign monitors to be present for the Northern Provincial Council Elections in September. Addressing the media, Deshapriya said that it is an accepted international practice for foreign monitors to be present at key elections.
He noted that there is no law that foreign monitors should be or should not be invited for local elections.
“Since this is the first election being held for the Northern Provincial Council, it is reasonable for someone to ask for international monitors. Disregarding such requests is not right even though there is no law that says international monitors are a must. Someone can then ask why not have international monitors when it was done before,” he said.
Deshapriya said that the final decision on who can be invited is taken by the Elections Commissioner in consultation with the political parties.
Meanwhile, he also said that the Elections Department has estimated Rs. 1,500 million as the cost to conduct the three provincial council elections in September.
He said that with the electricity tariffs going up, the cost to hold the election has also increased.
The Elections Commissioner also said that between 5 to 31 August, election campaigning will be banned close to examination centres during the Advanced Level exam and Year Five scholarship exams. (Colombo Gazette)
