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.