No CA to monitor Sri Lankan state media during election campaign

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 December 2009, 07:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake Thursday rejected the request to appoint a competent authority to monitor state media during the presidential election campaign. ”If the state media is monitored, the private media too should be monitored,” he said addressing Presidential candidates after accepting their nomination papers that were submitted Thursday.

The Commissioner overruled the objection by another presidential candidate against General (retd) Sarath Fonseka that the latter was a US citizen.

“The matter should be resolved in the law court as no documentary proof was placed before me to that effect”, the Commissioner of Elections told Sarath Kongahage, who raised the objection.

Sarath Kongahage also submitted nomination to contest in another political party.

Meanwhile all candidates gave their approval to the Commissioner of Elections to call for foreign observers to monitor the presidential election.