Andreas Jordan, one of the observers of the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission (EOM) said that they will issue a preliminary statement a few days after the Election Day assessing the election process up to that stage while overall conclusions of the mission will be presented by the Chief Observer in a final report only after the electoral process, about two months later.
The EU has deployed an EOM to Sri Lanka on an invitation by the Election Commission, to observe the presidential election, to be held on November 16.
This is the sixth election the EU is going to monitor an election process in Sri Lanka since 2000, Andreas Jordan, a long term observer of the mission told the media.
He is one of the two observers deployed by the EU to observe the Presidential Election Process in Galle District. His other colleague is Mukalay Narcisse Banze, who is also a long-term observer.
The two observers in their undertaking met a group of provincial journalists in Galle to collect information and learn the views and ideas of media men on the ongoing election process.
The EU has a reputable long-term strategy for observing elections. A core team of nine election analysts and 30 long-term observers have already arrived in Sri Lanka, and they have by now commenced their missionary obligations. The long-term observers were deployed in all the districts of the country. Two observers were assigned for each district he further said. Our mission is led by Marisa Matias, Member of the European Parliament. She is the Chief Observer. The Core Team of the mission which consists of nine experts analyses political, electoral, legal and other issues. The 30 long-term observers who are professionals of diverse fields are from the European Union member states, Norway and Switzerland. Some more observers numbering 40 will join with us in a few days to come, Andreas further explained.
“On completion of the mission, we will furnish a full report with our recommendations to improve future electoral processes. Following the previous election in 2015, which we observed, we submitted a comprehensive report with our recommendations to help the authorities to improve the process.
“We have already consulted a number of prominent personalities and state officials to gather information on the election process. We met some Non-Government Organization leaders and community leaders also. We hope to meet religious dignitaries and heads of Local Government Institutions of the district,” he said.
He further said that within the short period of their stay in Galle, they could observe that there was a satisfactory interest in people over the election and the process was going on according to the democratic norms.
(Daily News)