Sri Lanka's main Tamil party has called for international monitors to observe the upcoming elections in the former war-torn northern province, an official said Monday.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran told the media that foreign monitors would provide an independent evaluation of the provincial council elections and reduce malpractices.
He accused the government of using the army to lobby for votes in the run up to the election in September.
"The TNA will issue a manifesto of its election plan once it has met with all its members," he added.
Last week, the Sri Lankan president officially notified the elections commissioner to conduct the first post-war provincial council in the north after decades.
Sri Lanka crushed the Tamil Tigers in 2009. The government also plans to hold the North-Western and Central provincial council elections the same day.
The Election Commissioner said elections to the three provincial councils will be held Sep 21 or 28.