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International election observers fan out across country
More than 80 international election observers have commenced monitoring ahead of next Thursday’s presidential election, officials said.
An official attached to the Elections Secretariat said so far 40 observers from nine countries including India, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Nepal, representing the Forum of Election Management in South Asia, had commenced monitoring activities and another batch was expected this weekend.
Nine members from the Commonwealth also have commenced a monitoring process.
The Commonwealth announced this week that a nine-member group of observers headed by the former president of Guyana, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, would be in the country from January 2-14 following a formal invitation from Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya.
“The group will consider the pre-electoral environment and preparations. On election day and thereafter, members will observe the voting process, counting and tabulation procedures and the announcement of results.
“The group will act impartially and make an independent assessment of the electoral process. It will conduct itself according to the standards expressed in the International Declaration of Principles for Election Observation to which Sri Lanka has committed itself,” a statement from the Commonwealth said.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said Sri Lankans should be able to freely exercise their franchise, in an environment marked by transparency, a level playing field, and adherence to the laws and norms that govern a credible and peaceful election.
Meanwhile the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has brought 36 international monitors to the country from the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL).
ANFREL Executive Director Ichal Supriadi told the Sunday Times their mandate was to assess the overall electoral process from preparations, campaigns, polling day process, to counting during the election.
“We respect the sovereignty of Sri Lanka and we will be working with other monitoring bodies locally and civil society communities. We have been briefed about the existing election laws and our observations will be based on that,” he said.
Mr. Supriadi made it clear that even though PAFFREL was assisting in the monitoring process, ANFREL would preserve its independence in electoral assessment.
“PAFFREL will not interfere in our monitoring activities directly or indirectly. At the end of the election we will submit our evaluation report to the Elections Commissioner,” he said.
Sang Duck Nam, one of ANFREL’s international observers, said this was his first visit to the country to monitor an election. He expects to visit various parts of the country including the former conflict areas.
“We are very thankful for the accreditation by the Elections Commissioner for inviting us. Our Election Observation Mission (EOM) is composed of observers with diverse backgrounds, expertise and experience and they will be deployed in 25 districts to closely witness the electoral process and to contribute to achieving a credible election,” he said.