Hakeem raises election concerns with EU EOM

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 November 2005, 14:33 GMT]
Members of the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Sri Lanka met with leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Mr Rauf Hakeem Monday at Mr Hakeem's residence in Colombo. Mr Hakim raised concerns related to activities that undermine democracy during the forthcoming Sri Lanka presidential elections, and also discussed election related issues in the east, a press release from EOM issued in Colombo Monday said.

Full text of the press release follows:

Earlier today the EU EOM met Mr. Rauf Hakeem at his request. The meeting took place at his residence in Colombo.

The EU EOM delegation included the Chief Observer, Mr. John Cushnahan, the Deputy Chief Observer, Ms. Delphine Blanchet, and the Election Expert Ms Idoia Aranceta.

After the meeting EU Chief Observer, Mr. John Cushnahan said:

"Mr. Hakeem discussed the forthcoming Presidential election and raised a number of concerns that he had.

He was worried that if these happened they could undermine the handling of a genuine democratic election.

We also had a detailed discussion on the situation in the Eastern Province related to the election process.

We took note of his concerns and promised that we would look into them".