COLOMBO, March 15 (NNN-NEWS.LK) — Sri Lanka’s People?s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said that foreign representatives will arrive in the island before the first of next month to undertake the monitoring of the general election.
PAFFREL has invited thousands of foreign monitors to the island for the upcoming general election.
Its Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said the monitors would be representing the Asian network. They will be here to monitor a free and fair election.
In addition PAFFREL will also be deploying local monitors. Mr. Hettiarachchi said they are finalizing arrangements in this respect as well.
The Sri Lankan parliamentary election will be held on April 8 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka’s 14th Parliament. The 13th Parliament (also known as the 6th Parliament) was dissolved by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Feb 9.
The last parliamentary election was held on April 2, 2004. The newly formed United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) became the largest group in Parliament by winning 105 of the 225 seats, allowing it to form a minority government with the support of the sole Eelam People’s Democratic Party MP.
Since then a number of defections and counter-defections from the opposition have increased the number of government MPs to 129.
Meanwhile, a special circular has been issued on the deployment of officials for election duty.
The Election Secretariat said eight officials will be deployed per polling booth where there are less than 800 voters.
The number of officials who will man polling centres which cover between 800 and 1,200 registered voters, will be nine. There will be 14 officials to man polling booths with registered voters numbering between 1,200 and 1,500.
The special circular further said that 15 officials will man polling centres where more than 1,500 voters are registered. — NNN-NEWS.LK
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