Three international organisations to monitor 17 August polls

Observers from three international organisations will be in Sri Lanka to monitor the parliamentary election scheduled for 17 August on an invitation from the Commissioner of Elections.

The Election Commissioner has invited observers from the European Union, the Commonwealth and the SAARC organisation to monitor the forthcoming General Election as a fierce battle is expected between the United National Front for good governance and the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) for the control of the 225-member parliament.

According to the Election Secretariat, the observers of the European Union Elections Commission, Commonwealth Election monitoring officers and South Asian Election Management officers Guild have been informed to join the election monitoring.

Observers from the three organisations will be arriving in Sri Lanka between now and the Election Day.

The first batch of an Election Observation Mission (EOM) of the European Union is scheduled to arrive in the island Thursday.

The EU Election Observation Mission will consist of a Core Team of eight election analysts, and 18 Long-Term Observers, who will be deployed to all Sri Lankan Provinces, plus 28 Short Term Observers deployed shortly before Election Day.