CMEV is disturbed by reports received over the past few days that point to the involvement of senior politicians in acts of election-related violence.

In one case which received a great deal of publicity, UNP Minister and candidate Ravi Karunanayake and JVP leader and UPFA candidate Wimal Weerawansa traded allegations and counter-allegations regarding a raid on the UNP party office in Kotte by the Police on 11th March 2004. In another case, there have been repeated allegations of
intimidation and assault made against UNP Minister and candidate S.B. Dissanayake by members of the UPFA who allege that they are not even able to continue living in the Hanguranketha Polling Division in the NuwaraEliya District. Mr. Dissanayake, on the other hand, has gone on record saying that there have been transfers made within the Police in his area that are favourable to the UPFA.

In another report received by CMEV, it is alleged that on March 11 2004 in the Badaragama Polling Division, Kalutara District, supporters of the Jathika Hela Urumaya were assaulted so badly by persons said to be supporters of the UNF that they required hospitalization.

CMEV continues to draw the attention of the public and of all political party leaders and supporters to the need to ensure that all candidates can run an election campaign free of violence and intimidation.

Upholding the principle of a free and fair election requires that candidates and parties have a right to campaign and propagate their views among the public and that the voters have a right to receive this information from all parties contesting the elections so that they may make a free and fair choice of the party and candidate of their preference.

As a measure of their commitment to the holding of a free and fair election, we urge all political parties and leaders to ensure that their supporters are sent a clear and strong message that such acts of violence and intimidation will not be tolerated.

Furthermore, we call on the Police to act in an unbiased manner and not to leave any room for allegations that they refuse to accept complaints of election-related violence due to their partiality to one or the other candidate or political party. We view the steps taken by the Police to affect a special Police presence in areas which have been identified as being violence-prone as positive. However, the process of making these appointments should be transparent and done in consultation with the Commissioner of Elections.

The Police also has the responsibility of arresting and prosecuting all those persons alleged to have been involved in incidents of election-related violence in order to make everyone aware that such violence will not be taken lightly and as a part of the common practice of elections in Sri Lanka.

CMEV wishes to reiterate that the media too has a major responsibility in ensuring that the news stories they publish about incidents of violence during this election period are not presented in such a way as to inflame political hostilities among different sectors of the community. They must abide by the Guidelines issued by the Election Commissioner.


CMEV was formed in 1997 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition Against Political Violence as an independent and non-partisan organisation to monitor the incidence of election related violence.

Dr. P. Saravanamuttu Co-Convenor	Sunila Abeysekera Co-Convenor	Sundanda Deshapriya Co-Convenor