Election Commission (EC) Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya today (Nov 11) said he would make an open request to all presidential candidates tomorrow to distance religion from politics.
Addressing what he said would be his last press conference as EC Chairman, Deshapriya observed that numerous complaints have been received against the conduct of certain religious leaders with regard to the poll.
Commenting on this year’s election, the polls chief suggested it would have been better if certain media outlets had abided by the media regulations set out by the EC for the election.
He expressed disappointment that some state officers who do not enjoy political rights had engaged in political activities.
However, the polls chief noted that the EC had been able to prevent former police and military personnel engaged in politics, to avoid “exerting undue influence” on their former security units. “I feel they too didn’t conduct themselves that way,” he said.
Deshapriya said he would handover his letter of resignation as EC Chairman, along with the EC’s interim report on the Presidential election, to the next President.
He said he hopes that the results could be released by 6 pm tomorrow. “If we are unable to do that, we will definitely release it before 6 pm on November 18 (Monday), even if we have to count preferential votes,” the EC Chairman said.
He observed that the EC’s Complaint Management Unit had received 4769 complaints since declaring the final list of presidential candidates. Out of them 42 had been based on violence while 4610 had been based on law violations.
“Today we received (complaints) only on seven incidents of violence, 248 instances of law violations, and three other complaints,” he noted.
A Thai woman walking topless in Arugam Bay town has been arrested by the Police.
The UK government has unveiled a package of reforms to simplify imports from developing countries which allows for more garments manufactured in Sri Lanka to enter the UK tariff-free.
The Cabinet has approved a proposal for Sri Lankans overseas to apply for their passports through an online system via the Lankan diplomatic missions.
Ajith Gallage, the owner of a Bird Park in Nagarawawa, Hambantota, has been remanded over allegations of concealing illegally imported motorcycles, in a warehouse owned by him.
A passenger attempting to smuggle the largest quantity of gold of 35 kilo grams was arrested by the Customs at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) today, a senior official said.
Leave Comments