08 Jan 2015
Election monitoring organisations yesterday urged all stakeholders to ensure there would be no violence in the aftermath of the election.
They, however, expressed concern about the possibility of violence spiking up either spontaneously or in a planned manner in the post-election period.
The joint statement was signed by Executive Director, People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), Rohana Hettiarachchi, Executive Director, Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Executive Director, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) S. Ranugge, Executive Director, Campaign for Free and Elections (CaFFE) Keerthi Tennakoon, Director, Movement for Free & Fair Elections (MFFE) Manori Kalugampitiya, National Coordinator, Mothers and Daughters of Lanka (MDL) Nimalka Fernando/Daya Herath.
Hettiarachchi said it was the responsibility of political parties to ensure that their members did not take the law into their own hands.
The Executive Director PAFFREL said the postal voting in the election had been conducted in a peaceful atmosphere. "Only two incidents have been reported. Some incidents with respect to propaganda including the display of cutouts have also been reported."
Hettiarachchi said there had been a large number of incidents of violence perpetrated in full view of the public in most cases.
