European Union Election Observation Mission’s (EUEOM) Chief Observer to Sri Lanka, Cristian Preda said today their objective was to observe the election and not to teach democracy.

“We are not here to teach democracy or to teach electoral process. We are here with our expertise with all different experts to observe the election,” he said.

Mr. Preda said that their presence would contribute to the efforts of the Sri Lankan authorities and civil society for a strengthened democratic process.

Following an invitation from Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya, the European Union has established a mission to observe the Parliamentary elections of August 17.

Preda, a Romanian member of the European Parliament, is the Chief Observer of the EU EOM to Sri Lanka, which comprises over 70 observers from different EU countries, as well as Norway and Switzerland.

“We will be meeting government and electoral officials, candidates and representatives from political parties in all nine provinces and also meet with civil society and the media,” Preda said.

He said they would conduct a comprehensive analysis of the electoral process based on a long-term observation and a methodology developed by the EU over many years.

This analysis will include aspects such as the legal framework, the work of the election administration, the role of State institutions and civil society, the campaign activities, the conduct of the media, the voting and the counting, the complaints and appeal processes and the announcement of the results.

The members of the mission will remain neutral and abide by the EU election observation code of conduct and Sri Lanka laws.

The EU EOM will issue a preliminary statement shortly after the Election Day and a final report will be published later.

The mission comprises of 8 core members, 18 long-term and 28 short-term observers from EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland.  

The long term-team will stay in Sri Lanka from 19 July until 28 August. They are from 17 EU countries out of 28.

A delegation from the European Parliament and locally recruited short-term observers from EU-Member State embassies in Sri Lanka will also join the mission on the Election Day.(Darshana Sanjeewa)