Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Election Commission has urged authorities to prepare for presidential elections in the coming months, media reports said on Saturday.
The Election Commission had previously announced that the presidential election would take place between September 17 and October 16.
All relevant government agencies for logistics and preparations, including manpower, vehicles, polling stations and printing, have been mobilised, an Election Commission statement quoted Election Commission Chairman RMAL Ratnayake as saying.
According to news portal NewsFirst.lk, Ratnayake has written to the government’s media office, police, Ceylon Electricity Board, National Water Supply and Drainage Board and other agencies, and asked district deputy election commissioners and deputy election commissioners to produce documentation on the number of officers and vehicles required.
The circular has informed district deputy election commissioners to prepare polling stations through their local district officials.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 75, has not said anything publicly about seeking re-election. Since mid-July 2022, he has been serving the remainder of ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term.
Wickremesinghe will run as an independent candidate with the support of all political parties who are committed to maintaining his economic reform plan.
Two other main opposition leaders, Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Marxist JVP, have already declared their candidacy.
This post was last updated on June 29, 2024 at 10:45 pm
