Japan to send Election Observers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 March 2004, 14:01 GMT]
The Goverenment of Japan has decided to dispatch an election observation mission to Sri Lanka for the general election on April 2nd. This the first time that Japan is sending such mission to Sri Lanka, according to political sources in Colombo.

This decision was made after the Sri Lankan Election Commissioner had sent an invitation to four (4) Co- Chairs of the Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka, Japan, US, Norway and the EuropeanUnion, to participate in the electoral observation for the upcoming election.

The Twelve member observation mission consists of Japan scholars on Sri Lanka and Japanese Foreign Minitry officials.

They will observe the election campaign and the voting and counting proceass in several electorates.

They will arrive in Sri Lanka at the end of this month and remain in the island for about one week.

The Government of Japan has already given assistance to the Peoples Action For Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL), amounting to US$30680 for supporting its election monitoring activities.