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Thursday, 6 August 2020 00:24 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Nuwan Senarathna
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) yesterday said the polling day was peaceful and no election violence was reported during the time polling was conducted.
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| CMEV National Coordinator Manjula Gajanayake – Pic by Ruwan Walpola |
Speaking to reporters at the CMEV head office, National Coordinator Manjula Gajanayake said 161 election law violations were reported but that they would not affect the overall election result and noted that compared to previous elections, the situation was peaceful.
“This is a proud moment for Sri Lankans, as we were able to conduct a peaceful election after several decades. While observing this election, we have understood that there were no instances of election violence during the polling day. The Election Commission (EC) and the Police have taken positive steps to conduct the election peacefully,” he said.
Gajanayake noted that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the EC was able to conduct the election while ensuring the public’s safety. He commended the EC for taking measures to improve safety and to create a safe environment to conduct polling in.
He spoke about the importance of having regulations for election campaign funds and noted such initiatives would enable fair competition among all candidates at future elections. According to Gajanayake’s estimates, Rs. 2.2 billion was spent for campaigning from 2 July to 1 August, with these funds being divided between newspapers, TV and social media outlets.
“We did not see that there was a level playing field for all candidates at this election. Only a few candidates have an added advantage due to lack of regulations of election campaign finance. If there was a proper mechanism in place, this could have been prevented, and we expect such legislation will be implemented in the future.”
