Sri Lankan police remove propaganda material ahead of presidential election | World News
 "Sr Lanka, Sri Lanka Flag")
All illegal posters, clippings and banners would be removed | Image: Wikimedia Commons
Sri Lankan police have deployed 1,500 police officers to remove all illegal election posters and campaign posters from public places ahead of next month’s presidential election.
Police have launched an operation to combat all electoral propaganda materials that violate electoral laws in the run-up to the September 21 presidential election.
The police election secretariat said that officers had been recruited from provincial police stations to pull down materials displayed by candidates that violated propaganda regulations.
Deputy Police Inspector in charge of elections Asanka Karawita said each staff member would be paid 1,500 rupees a day and would be under police protection to carry out the task of removing illegal election-related materials, Island Online reported.
All posters, cutouts and banners that violate the law will be removed.
The electoral law does not allow propaganda material to be displayed in public places. Candidates may only display it in their propaganda offices.
The Human Rights Commission (HRC) said it had discussed with police leadership the role of the police during the campaign. Operational guidelines had been issued, the HRC said.
“We have had extensive discussions on the guidelines,” said Nimal Punchihewa, a commissioner at the HRC.
The police are currently without their chief. The Supreme Court has suspended him following a fundamental rights complaint against his appointment.
A hearing on the case is not planned until after the election.
The electoral commission said the ballot paper will be longer than in 2019 due to the record number of candidates running in the election. There are 39 candidates in the race, a record, compared to 35 in 2019.
Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake are considered the frontrunners in the elections. Over 17 million of the island’s 21 million inhabitants are eligible to vote.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: 17 August 2024 | 12:08 IS
