News
Polls dept. upstages UPFA CM candidate
Officials of the Elections Department yesterday sealed three stores in Anuradhapura from where UPFA Chief Ministerial candidate Berty Premalal Dissanayake was to distribute among voters, State-owned agricultural implements with stickers bearing his name, ahead of next month’s Provincial Council (PC) elections.
Anuradhapura District Additional Elections Commissioner K.K.S. Madhawa told the Sunday Times that stickers and polls campaign material of PC candidate Berty Premalal Dissanayake were pasted on water filters and water pumps found in the stores. He said the stores were sealed, as such distribution was in contravention of the election laws.
Meanwhile, elections officials have requested Anuradhapura District Parliamentarian and Deputy Minister Weerakumara Dissanayake to vacate a government circuit bungalow he is occupying with his supporters.
The circuit bungalow belongs to the Building Materials Corporation, which is under the Ministry of Construction and Engineering Services. Officials have yet to confirm whether any political activities took place within the State-owned building.
The Elections Department has received a number of election law violations in the Ratnapura District. Ratnapura District Deputy Elections Commissioner M.A.P.C Perera said that they had received a complaint that 90 trained graduates were deployed for election campaign work of a ruling party candidate.
“The Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) complained to me of the illegal use of graduates for election campaign work by a UPFA candidate, and on immediately conducting an inquiry, I found it was true. I was also informed that those graduates had been discontinued after necessary action was taken by our officials”, the Deputy Elections Commissioner said.
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