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Local council polls: Stern warning to public officials
Public officials who fail to prevent the misuse of state resources or property during the upcoming local council elections will be liable to a fine or jail term, a senior Elections Commission official said. Additional Elections Commissioner M.M. Mohamed told the Sunday Times that the Commission, in contrast to previous elections of only issuing directives and guidelines, would be issuing a gazette notification thereby giving it legal effect.
Accordingly, a public officer violating the regulations will be liable to a fine not exceeding Rs. 100,000 or to a jail term not exceeding three years or both. Mr Mohamed said the directives and guidelines would be effective for officials ranging from ministry secretaries downwards. The directives would also cover recruitment, distribution of goods and provision of other facilities aimed at promoting a political party, independent group or a candidate.
The Sunday Times learns that public officials have already made inquiries from the Election Commission regarding distribution of goods which they had already received. A senior Election Commission officer said they had informed the officials that the distribution of goods could not be turned into political events attended by ministers or politicians.
The first phase of the nominations in respect of 93 local councils will begin tomorrow and last until Thursday while the second phase of the nominations for 247 councils are due to take place from December 18 to 21. The election date will be announced thereafter. For the 93 local councils, 25 political parties and six independent groups had placed their deposits by Friday.
On Friday, Eelection Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya met Police Chief Pujith Jayasudara to discuss security arrangements for elections. Accordingly it was decided to deploy the Special Task Force (STF) and additional policemen to vulnerable areas.