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Upcoming SL general elections to be most expensive
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IANS | 01 Aug, 2020
The upcoming Sri Lankan general elections to elect a new 225-member
Parliament scheduled to take place on August 5, will be the most
expensive in the history of the island-nation, according to a senior
poll official.
Mahinda Deshapriya, chief of the Election
Commission (EC) of Sri Lanka, told the Daily Mirror newspaper on Friday
that the EC was trying to keep the cost at 10 billion LKR and ensuring
that expenses do not surpass this mark due to several health measures
which have to be adopted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the
deployment of additional staff as a result.
"We are trying to
limit it. This is the most expensive election in history as we have to
deploy additional staff along with face masks, sanitizers and all other
health guidelines.
"We hope we can reduce the cost and keep it at 10 billion LKR," Deshapriya said.
He
told the Daily Mirror that those under self-quarantine in their homes
due to the COVID-19 virus could cast their votes following clearance
received by the Health Ministry and arrangements would be made to
allocate a separate time for them.
Voting, which will begin at 7 a.m., has been extended by an additional hour until 5 p.m.
The elections initially set to be held on April 25, were postponed twice due to restrictions linked to the pandemic.
President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa had dissolved Parliament in March following his
landslide victory in the November 2019 presidential polls.
The
President's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party has to win majority in the
house in order to secure the government's full control in the
semi-presidential representative democracy.
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As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
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