Polls Chief says:

No proxy candidates

by Manjula Fernando

Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya will issue a fresh decree to guide independent candidates and independent parties aspiring to contest the forthcoming general election, to stop them from becoming proxies of other candidates.

The Elections Commissioner said this was a disturbing trend, which they had observed in the past elections including the January 2015 Presidential election. “We have learned that some independent candidates who enter the fray later turn out to be proxies of other candidates,” he said. “They use their campaign offices and other means to canvass support for leading candidates from other parties.

This will not be entertained in the forthcoming election. We will take action through the Police to close down such campaign offices if they are found to be proxies,” Deshapriya added. Soon after the Presidential election, the Elections Commissioner told the media that his office had to bear heavy printing costs to accommodate long lists of bogus Independent candidates and he was contemplating action to stop this trend.