Sri Lanka deploys 70,000 police personnel to ensure uneventful election

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By Editor_1
Polling officials and police officers carry election materials after collecting them from a distribution centre, a day before the Parliamentary Election, in Colombo, Sri Lanka -Thilina Kaluthotage/Reuters

COLOMBO – Stringent security measures have been put in place for the general election on Thursday (14) with 70,000 police personnel deployed across the country to ensure incident-free polling.

Police media spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa said 64,000 police personnel have been deployed directly, while an additional 6,000 are on standby. He added that 3,200 Special Task Force (STF) personnel were included in the deployment to encourage free and fair voting.

Thalduwa requested the public to refrain from committing election offences and to maintain a peaceful voting environment.

Over 17 million Sri Lankans, around one million of them first-time voters, are eligible to vote on Thursday to elect lawmakers to the 225-member parliament for a five-year term.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dissolved parliament on Sept. 24 to clear the way for the general election, days after the left-leaning leader was elected president on a platform for change. The election became necessary as Dissanayake had just three lawmakers in the outgoing parliament – whose five-year term was due to end in Aug. 2025 – and needed a fresh mandate to push his policies.

Campaigning ended at midnight on Monday (11), 48 hours before election day.

Voters directly elect 196 members to parliament from 22 constituencies under a proportional representation system. The remaining 29 seats will be allocated according to the island-wide proportional vote obtained by each party.

A voter can cast up to three preferential votes for candidates contesting from their party of choice at one of the thousands of polling stations set up mostly in schools and other public institutes across the country.

The votes will be counted by government employees after polling ends, supervised by Election Commission officials, election monitors and representatives of candidates.

Voting begins at 7 a.m. local time (0130 GMT) and ends at 4 p.m. (1030 GMT), with counting scheduled to start shortly after.

The Election Commission will formally announce the winning party, likely on Friday (15), a public holiday on account of it being Poya Day. A cabinet is expected to be formed immediately afterwards and the new parliament will convene on Nov. 21 to elect a speaker. President Dissanayake will also present a throne speech outlining his key policy priorities to the new parliament on the same day.

-ENCL/Agencies

 

Editor_1
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