Election violence rises in Sri Lanka as polls draw closer

by admin
Sep 12, 2024

Sri Lanka has seen a spike in election-related violence as presidential polls draw closer, according to data released by Election monitors People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), the Sri Lankan Elections Commission and Sri Lankan media outlets.

The statistics which are updated routinely show that more than 20 such incidents have been formally reported to the Sri Lanka police, who have increased their presence in districts that have reported an increase in election-related violence. In addition to the formal reports, approximately 60 individuals have reportedly been arrested, while some are to be produced before the courts.

One such arrest was that of a Tamil youth who was found to have a bullet during a rally of Ranil Wickremesinghe in Batticaloa. The bullet was found inside the wallet of the arrested 24-year-old, during a security screening, police said. However, the youth had claimed that he picked up the bullet after finding it on the roadside around 2 years ago.

Meanwhile, according to the Sinhala press, PAFFREL said that they have received 556 complaints regarding the promotion of the candidates that violate the election commission rules out of which 321 of them had been verified and confirmed. 93 other complaints were with regards to hosting of election rallies, 188 were to do with abuse of state resources and 50 were acts of violence. 

The latest official update released by PAFFREL, counting numbers from July 26 until September 10, shows reports of hundreds of incidents.

Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) Asanka Karawit told reporters that the police were monitoring the situation and were making every effort to ensure that it was violence-free.

Sri Lanka’s Election Commission also said that a special security program was in place for September 21 – the date of the presidential polls.

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This article has been edited to reflect the updated numbers.

PAFFREL said, "As a Sri Lankan election observation organization, our clear objective is to keep an eye on the overall electoral process and encourage citizens and related entities to hold free and fair elections".

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