Electoral process must be strengthened: EC Chairman

Monday, 18 November 2019 01:57 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Election peaceful, free and fair, Deshapriya says

Thanks President, PM, and all others for assisting the EC

Inability to control media main setback during polls campaign

Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya yesterday said laws that govern the electoral process must be strengthened by the new President and his Government to ensure that democratic institutions stay strong.

“While we had a peaceful, free, and fair Election, this Election also exposed the shortcomings we face,” he said.

“For the first time we had the incumbent President staying neutral during the Election. I must thank him. It was due to the cooperation by everyone we were able to conclude this Election successfully,” he said during the remarks he made prior to officially announcing the winner.

“An election is a collective endeavour. All public officials from the senior-most to those at the lower rungs contributed to making it a success. The Police and the armed forces, too, contributed in maintaining law and order,” he said.

Deshapriya also thanked the candidates for conducting an environmentally friendly campaign by not using polythene, posters, and cut-outs in their campaigns.

“We won the poster war this time, and I hope this continues in future elections too,” he said.

Deshapriya said the main setback this time was the EC’s inability to control the State and private media due to the lack of adequate laws during the Election campaign.

“We have to have more laws in this regard, otherwise instead of holding elections, we can give the powers to media organisation heads to elect MPs,” Deshapriya said.