The Election Commission (EC) has received a complaint stating that a candidate contesting the upcoming presidential election has violated the Code of Ethics announced by the Commission by using statements made by military officers.
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) complaint states that despite the requirement of every candidate contesting the election to abide by the Code of Ethics set out by the Election Commission when conducting their election campaigns, a violation of the Code of Ethics had taken place in a newspaper advertisement.
Three newspapers had published full-page advertisements, which featured statements made by former Triforce Commanders about Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
However, among the statements of high ranking military officers published in the advertisement is a statement made by incumbent Army Commander, Lt. Gen Shavendra Silva on the 28th of December 2009.
Lt. General Silva is still the Army Commander on active duty and the use of his statement compromises the integrity of civil-military relations in Sri Lanka, CMEV has pointed out.
CMEV has added that the integrity of the election would be severely compromised if other candidates also adopted this practice.
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