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by Jayantha Sri Nissanka and Ranga Jayasuriya

Police will deploy 24,000 officers and over 22,000 election observers will be detailed on Thursday as the country votes to choose the fifth Executive President.

Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has finalised arrangements for the election which will be held at 10,486 polling stations islandwide including 233 cluster polling stations to be set up for the voters residing in LTTE held areas.

Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando said that 24,000 officers would be deployed in polling stations and that the entire Police force will be put on alert on that day.

Police stations around the country will conduct mobile patrols to disperse crowds gathering in locations. The Elections Commissioner has warned to call a re-poll in any polling station which would be subjected to vote rigging and a senior spokesman for the Elections Commissioner's Department said the department was prepared to hold a re-poll on November 19 if it is needed.

Over 150,000 public servants will be detailed on election duties.

All public rallies will be suspended at mid night on November 14.

Meanwhile, People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Director Kingsley Rodrigo, said his organisation would deploy 20,000 monitors and 2000 mobile monitors to observe the election.

The Elections Commissioner has given permission to foreign Election Observers as well as local monitors from PAFFREL and Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) to be present at polling stations.

In addition to local monitors, two foreign Monitors will be assigned to each District, Rodrigo said. A grand total of 13,327,160 people are eligible to vote at the election including 24,724 displaced voters and 323,428 postal voters. Postal voting was conducted last week.

Meanwhile, LTTE front organisations are orchestrating a boycott of the election in the North-East, saying the election was irrelevant to Tamils.

Though the LTTE has announced that it would not obstruct Tamils from exercising their franchise, it has now hinted in favour of a boycott of the election.

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