Colombo: Sri Lanka’s election commission has asked authorities to prepare for the Presidential election in the coming months, a media report said on Saturday.
The election commission had earlier declared that the presidential polls would be held somewhere between September 17 and October 16.
A statement from the commission quoted the chairman of the Election Commission R M A L Rathnayake saying that all relevant government institutions for logistics and preparations including manpower, vehicles, polling stations and printing.
News portal NewsFirst.lk said that Rathnayake has sent a letter to the government press, police, Ceylon Electricity Board, National Water Supply and Drainage Board and other institutions apart from the District Assistant and Deputy Election Commissioners were asked to prepare a document on the number of officers and vehicles required.
The circular also informs the District Assistant Election Commissioners to prepare the polling stations via local rural officials.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 75, hasn’t made any public statement on his bid for re-election. Since mid-July 2022, he has been serving the balance term of the ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Wickremesinghe intends to contest as an independent candidate backed by all political parties who are bent on maintaining the economic reforms programme set in by him.
The other two main opposition leaders Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the Marxist JVP have already announced their candidacy.
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