Elections to NP, NWP, CP on Sept. 21 or 28:

Polls chief to declare dates next week

by Manjula Fernando

The Elections Commissioner General Mahinda Deshapriya will issue thegazette notice to hold elections in the North, North Western and Central Provinces next week, a spokesman for the Elections Secretariat said yesterday.

The election is likely to be held on September 21 or 28.

According to the Provincial Council Elections Act, the nomination period will begin 14 days after the publication of the gazette notification by the Commissioner General to accept nominations from political parties and independent groups contesting the elections.Nominations will be accepted for one week.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa made the proclamation to dissolve the Central and North Western Provincial Councils and called for elections for the two PCs and the Northern Province on Friday. The Elections Secretariat is now busy finalising the supplementary register of displaced voters of the North and the East.

“We will conduct the Provincial Council polls under the 2012 electoral register. The supplementary registry has been prepared to ensure that displaced voters will not be deprived of their franchise in the first ever PC elections after 1987,” the spokesman said.

Over 7,000 applications have been received for registration so far.

Asked if there will be duplication or multiple registrations, the spokesman said every precaution has been taken to avoid such instances.

Displaced persons should prove that they have been registered as voters in the Northern or the Eastern provinces prior to their displacement due to terrorism or militancy to qualify to be registered as displaced persons. The Commissioner General met political party representatives and others to consider their concerns on the displaced voter registry yesterday. Among those who participated were Joseph Michael Perera and Daya Gamage (UNP), Hassan Ali (SLMC) and official representatives of the UPFA.

“The Bill has been passed in Parliament to provide for the registration of displaced voters and it will go ahead as planned but the concerns of political parties and other interested groups will also be weighed by the Elections Commissioner General,” he said. A meeting of Party Secretaries will be held on July 12 to discuss rules and modalities for the conduct of the polls.

The Elections Commissioner General is contemplating inviting international polls observers including a team from the SAARC region to monitor the election.

According to the 2012 electoral register, there are 714,488 eligible voters in the Northern Province.