Electorate had opportunity to elect govt. of their choice – HRC Chief

By Shamindra Ferdinando-August 17, 2015

Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) retired Supreme Court judge Priyantha R. Perera said the electorate had got an opportunity to freely exercise their franchise at yesterday’s parliamentary polls.

Justice Perera said that the people had enjoyed the freedom to vote for a party and candidates of their choice. The HRCSL chief said that yesterday’s polls could be described as the most peaceful national level poll conducted during the past couple of decades.

Although the police and election monitors had reported a few incidents, there hadn’t been a single serious incident or any organised attempts to interfere with the voting, Justice Perera said.

Responding to a query, Justice Perera said that HRCSL had no reason to rein in privately-owned media in the run-up to yesterday’s poll. The former SC judge said that peaceful environment contributed to high turnout of voters.

Justice Perera pointed out that in terms of provisions in the Article 23 (5) of the 19 Amendment to the Constitution, a series of media guidelines had been issued at the onset of the propaganda campaign because that Amendment only dealt with state-owned media. The Elections Secretariat and HRCSL announced the setting up of a Standing Committee of Permanent Representatives to monitor privately-owned media.

He expressed appreciation to Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya and IGP N.K. Illangakoon for ensuring a level playing field throughout the campaign, though the Bloemendhal shooting caused concern among the electorate. Asked whether the status quo could be maintained, Justice Perera emphasised that major political parties should strive to further improve the situation.

The ground situation had marked a tremendous improvement since the January 2015 presidential election. According to him, unlike previous elections, allocation of venues for propaganda meetings was done without controversy, the HRCSL chief asserted.

Justice Perera said that a series of meetings the HRCSL had with various officials, including the police also contributed to the overall improvement in the ground situation. The official expressed the belief that yesterday’s poll marked a new beginning.