C’wealth polls observers due here early August

by Manjula Fernando

The first team of Commonwealth election observers will be in Sri Lanka in the first week of August to cover the pre-election phase of the September Provincial Council elections, a senior official at the Elections Department said yesterday.

The Commonwealth will deploy three teams to cover the Provincial Council elections during the pre-election, on the polls day and the post election period to compile a comprehensive report for the Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya on their evaluation of the polls conduct.

“We hope that all international monitors will accept our invitation and send their teams to observe the polls,” the official said.

Accepting nominations from political parties and independent groups for the Provincial Council elections for the North, North Western and Central Provinces began on Thursday but none of the major parties had submitted their nomination lists to the returning officers so far.

“We call upon the parties to hand over the nomination lists early to avoid any mishaps,” the official said.

The deadline for independent groups to make their deposits to contest the election is July 31 while for registered political parties the deadline is August 1.