EU asks Lanka to enact campaign finance law for transparency in elections

The European Union has called on Sri Lanka to enact a law on campaign finance to improve transparency in the election process and prevent the biased poll coverage by private and state media.

Sri Lanka has no laws to restrict campaign finances. The independent election monitors have been calling for a law to do so.

Presenting its final report on Sri Lanka's November 16 presidential election, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) called for a law on campaign finance among its main recommendations.

The EU's chief election observer Maria Matias commended the country's Elections Commission (EC) for its credible and professional work in the recent presidential election.

 

The electoral process was well managed by the EC, and we noted that campaigning on the ground was peaceful and the atmosphere calm despite a small number of violent incidents, Matias said.

"However, the absence of a law on campaign finance and the biased election coverage by private and state media contributed to an uneven playing field and limited the opportunity for most candidates to convey their message," she added.

The mission made 23 recommendations to improve the electoral process.

"The law should include clear provisions on timely disclosure before and after elections, oversight, sanctions and enforcement.

The mission also asked the government to empower the independent elections commission.

"The law should empower the elections commissioner to issue, in a timely manner binding regulatory instruments with clear provisions for enforcement and to develop and codify internal procedures.

The recommendations call for creating a level-ground of campaigning while urging better cooperation between social media platforms and the elections commission.

The EU had deployed 30 long-term and 30 short-term members from 27 EU member states assisted by Switzerland and Norway from October 11 to December 12 to assess all aspects of the presidential election.