No election activities at places of worship: Election Chief

Monday, 8 January 2018 00:34 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Chairman of the Election Commission Mahinda Deshapriya says that election propaganda activities at places of worship are prohibited.

“Politics at religious places, be they Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic, Christian or Hindu, is not allowed,” the Election Chief said.

The Election Commission Chairman made this comment while speaking at a program held at the Galle District Secretariat yesterday under the patronage of the Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundera to inform senior police officers in the Southern Province about the forthcoming local government polls.

A number police officers from the Galle, Elpitiya, Matara and Tangalle police divisions and other Government officials in the province participated in the meeting.

The Election Commission Chairman and the Inspector General of Police gave the police officers several important instructions for the free and fair conduct of the 2018 Local Government Election.

Speaking further, Election Commission Chairman Deshapriya said his institution had received many complaints of alleged election propaganda activities at places of worship.

“We are obligated to take action regardless of whether we receive complaints. Don’t bring religion into politics,” he told the officers.

Deshapriya said that this does not mean that people have to stop the religious activities that take place within temples, kovils or churches but if the monk at the temple, Mawlawi at a mosque or Poosari at a kovil is going to bless a candidate every day publicly then the officers have to inform them that they are violating election laws.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission Chairman thanked the police for opening a separate hotline (0113024884) to lodge complaints over the harassment of female candidates for the local government polls.

The IGP has planned to conduct workshops in all provinces to brief police officers on the 2018 local government election. Today’s workshop is the second of the program. The first was held in the Uva Province on 27 December 2017.