Election relatively free and fair - ANFREL
by Naalir Jamaldeen
"When compared to countries such as Philippines, Bangladesh,
Cambodia, Thailand and Nepal the concluded Presidential Election in Sri
Lanka was peaceful. I have monitored elections in 20 countries.
I could see people casting votes in long queues. Relatively the
election was peaceful. Sri Lankans have proved that they practise
democracy", Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) Mission Head
Damaso Guerrero Magbual told a media conference in Colombo.
He said that PAFFREL, political parties and other officials who were
engaged in the election monitoring were very happy with the performance
of Election department.
He said that the dedication of officers at the polling booths should
not be forgotten. The duty of police in holding the election peacefully
should not be forgotten.
"The presidential polls which was held on January 8 was peaceful and
everybody would agree. My congratulations to Sri Lankan people. ANFREL
urges Sri Lanka to enact and enforce adequate electoral laws including
measures to level the playing field, empower the Department of
Elections, institute campaign finance regulations, ensure freedom of the
media and strengthen the regulations over the misuse of state resources
ANFREL's Mission Head Damaso Magbual said.
Since the deployment ANFREL worked in 24 districts in Sri Lanka
ANFREL election observers will continue to monitor the post-election
environment in Sri Lanka and wish to see a peaceful conclusion of the
election, he said.
ANFREL observed several incidents of misuse of public property such
as the use of buses to transport people to campaign rallies. Similar
concerns have been highlighted by the national monitoring groups that
contend that public funds and the Government bureaucracy are misused to
serve the campaign machinery.
Further more, unequal access to media has also been observed with the
ruling party receiving disproportionate air time on public and private
channels, he said. |