The Human Rights Commission (HRC) yesterday decided to deploy two teams to monitor the local council elections in Jaffna and Kilinochchi.

HRC officials said the decision was taken following complaints by various political parties and election monitoring groups about large scale violation of election laws.

The JVP and the TNA have complained that the military was interfering in political activities of opposition parties. They also informed the Elections Department that in the run-up to this Saturday’s elections, the government had suddenly begun allocating funds for development projects in the North.

The People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), requested the HRC to send its officials to monitor the situation in the North.
PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said the HRC had responded positively.

“They agreed to send two teams to Jaffna, probably on July 21 and the officials will stay there till the voting is over on Saturday,” he said. (KB)