A delegation of the European Union (EU) that visited Sri Lanka last week was engaged in assessing the pre-polls climate in order to decide if an EU elections observer team must be sent to Sri Lanka for the next presidential elections.
The EU delegation had held several meetings while in Sri Lanka, including with the Election Commission, Government, Opposition, civil society and the media.
Among the concerns raised during some of the meetings with the EU delegation was the possibility of journalists being intimidated ahead of the elections.
Meanwhile, the Elections Commission (EC) says a decision of whether to invite foreign election monitoring groups to observe the upcoming presidential election will be made after the relevant gazette is issued by the Government.
Director General of Elections Saman Rathnayake has said that when deciding, the Commission would consider the election monitoring experience of foreign observers as well as the strength and purpose of monitoring elections in Sri Lanka.
“We had a discussion with the EU Group last week and we informed them that the Commission will only consider inviting them after the gazette is issued and considering the necessity of foreign observers,” Rathnayake has told the media.
He has further noted that even though there was no decision yet, the Commission was in the process of forming the necessary conditions for foreign election monitoring groups to be invited to Sri Lanka.
There are 14,000 polling stations around the country and at least one representative from each election monitoring group should be stationed at each station.
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