All cut-outs of presidential aspirants displayed around the island would be taken down within the next couple of days on order of the Elections Commissioner and a directive by the government, the police said.
Last week, the Elections Commissioner had ordered respective political parties to undertake the removal of these cut-outs and posters, followed by an order to the police yesterday to remove those still remaining.
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| A cutout in Rajagiriya: Still standing on nomination day |
Police Elections Secretariat Chief Gamini Navaratne, said he was confident all cut-outs would be taken down within two to three days. “This is a good example that is being set regarding this sort of campaigning and the government has been quick to order the police to handle any violations of this nature,” he said.
He was also thankful for the cooperation of the relevant political parties who had offered volunteers to help the police out in this task.
However, there were reports from Kelaniya that some posters and other election-related material still remained due to political pressure exerted on authorities.
Meanwhile an Elections Commission source said the Presidential election campaign this time was more difficult to control than the previous one, adding that the number of cutouts and posters were significantly more.
He also said despite an order from President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the police to pull down two large cut-outs close to the elections office they still remained.
According to the Elections Commissioner propaganda pertaining to the presidential election can only be displayed at a venue of a public meeting conducted by a particular candidate or political party for the duration of the meeting. Apart from this candidates can have propaganda material on the vehicle they travel in.
A cutout of about 20x10 feet costs around Rs.100,000 excluding rent and display taxes while a large hoarding of around 80x 60 feet such as the one displayed near the Viharamahadevi Park cost an estimated Rs.450,000 exclusive of taxes.
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| .... and down comes this huge cutout at Alexandra junction, in Colombo |
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