Rs 3.1 billion spent on Presidential campaigning so far ; costs expected to soar : CMEV

The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) says that around Rs 3.1 billion has been spent on this year’s presidential election campaigning so far.

“The source of funding and the reasons for which these funds had been provided must be revealed,” CMEV National Coordinator Manjula Gajanayake told a news conference today (Nov 13).

He said campaign costs are expected to go upto atleast Rs 10 billion by the end of the election.

Accordingly, the CMEV's National Coordinator urged the Election Commission to obtain past campaign financing records of political parties or independent candidates at future polls.

Election costs had been calculated based on media advertisement rates, costs for election rallies, and the value of state property misused by political parties.

CMEV statistics show that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the New Democratic Front (NDF) parties had spent the most, incurring expenses of Rs 1.5 billion and Rs 1.4 billion respectively.

The SLPP had heavily dominated the electronic and social media advertisement space while the NDF had spent the most on print media.

Meanwhile, the CMEV raised concerns over the failure to prevent the usage of social media to promote presidential candidates, 48 hours before the poll – known as the Silent Period.

The election monitor also expressed concern over the assault of six women during the election period, and the usage of religious places to promote presidential candidates.

Gajanayake noted that the CMEV will deploy around 2000 observers including 100 differently-abled persons for election monitoring during the presidential election on Saturday.

(Pics by Amila Gamage)