Seven member EU Parliamentary team to monitor Presidential poll

A seven-member European Union (EU) parliamentary group will arrive in the country prior to monitor Sri Lanka's upcoming presidential election, a senior EU election monitoring official said.

“On and after the election day, they will be at polling centres to observe voting, counting, and the transmission of results process,” European Union Election Observer Mission (EUEOM) Deputy Chief Observer Dimitra Ioannou told a news conference today (Oct 22).

Ioannou explained that around 80 of its members including election analysts, short-term and long-term observers, and EU Parliamentarians, who would engage in the monitoring process.

The final report is likely to be released in January next year, while the preliminary report will be released after the November 16 election.

The Deputy Chief Observer stated that 30 long-term observers from 24 EU countries, Norway and Switzerland, have already commenced monitoring operations across the country. 

She explained that they will monitor election-related events and meet stakeholders including presidential candidates, political parties, and law enforcement units.

Meanwhile, Ioannou responding to a query said Sri Lanka had implemented only three out of 26 recommendations made by the EU EOM after assessing the parliamentary election in 2015.

This included setting-up an Election Commission, carrying out the continuous voter-education process, and providing a quota for women representation in legislative units.

“We will follow up on those recommendations. We will go into assessing if they are still valid to this election,” she said.

The official noted that the monitoring team would assess the implementation of law, election administration, campaigning, role of state bodies, the civil society, and the media including social media platforms.