*With Police LG bodies failing in their duty:
September 17, 2013, 9:15 pm
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The Elections Department has been compelled to allocate Rs. 9.8 million for the ongoing police operations to remove illegal campaign material ahead of Provincial Council polls in the Northern, Central and North-Western Provinces.
Informed sources told The Island that in addition to the funds released to the police to hire private workers, the Elections Department was spending extra funds for the same purpose.
The Election Secretariat had no option but to use taxpayers’ money for a clearing operation as the major political parties are engaged in a poster war. Asked whether the Election Secretariat had discussed the issue with political parties, a senior official said that polls chief Mahinda Deshapriya had requested them to abide by election laws. Although they had been agreeable to Deshapriya’s suggestions, the laws with regard to propaganda campaigns were being violated, the official said, adding that had the police prevented the putting up of posters, there would have been no need to hire private workers to remove posters and other propaganda material.
The Elections Department said that for the deployment of the police in the three provinces comprising the districts of Mahanuwara, Matale and Nuwara Eliya (Central Province), Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi (Northern Province) and Kurunegala and Puttalam (North-Western Province) Rs 150.7 mn had been allocated "This amount included the Rs. 9.8 mn for poster clearing operations.
Sources said that in accordance with existing agreement the Elections Department had to meet the expenses incurred by the police during the campaign and on the day of the elections.
