Agencies

 

 

An election monitoring group has expressed serious concern over the rise in poll law violations in Moneragala district in Sri Lanka’s Uva Province, particularly considering its comparatively low population.

Peoples Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) executive director Rohana Hettiarachchi said his organisation had so far received 203 complaints of election law violations and election-related violence since July 30 and added that 158 of them had been confirmed, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

Hettiarachchi said they were alarmed about the situation in Moneragala because 120 cases of the 158 confirmed cases of election law violations had been reported from the district.

“We have confirmed 40 cases of attacks on party offices with 39 from Moneragala. It is worrying particularly because the voter population in Moneragala is only half of that of Badulla and yet the highest violence and election law violations are reported from the district,” the paper quoted Hettiarachchi as saying.

He said election law violations and election violence were continuing despite requests made to the authorities including the Elections Commissioner and law enforcement officials to station additional armed police personnel in Moneragala to bring the situation under control.

Hettiarachchi said the politicisation of the police service had resulted in police inaction.

Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) executive director Ranjith Keerthi Tennakoon in a statement said the total number of complaints they had received on election law violations and violence in the Uva Province has increased to 162 which include 55 cases of attacks on party offices and property.

The latest incident was reported yesterday when a UNP office located along the Buttala-Kataragama road was destroyed. 

The two organisations expressed concern over the intimidating presence of several vehicles without registration numbers and some of them with Western Province vehicle registration numbers. Opposition candidates said various intimidating tactics adopted by ruling party candidates were creating a climate of fear in the district.

CaFFE said despite allegations levelled against these mysterious vehicles and the obvious violations of motor traffic regulations as well as election regulations, the police have done nothing.

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