News

All ready for General Election today

Published

7 months ago

November 14, 2024

editor

All arrangements have been made to conduct a peaceful, free and fair Parliamentary Election today (14) to elect the representatives for the Tenth Parliament.

A total of 8,361 candidates, with 5,015 from 408 recognised political parties and 3,346 from 282 independent groups are vying for selection as representatives of the new Parliament consisting of 196 members elected from the nomination list and 29 selected from the national list to set up the 225 Members of Parliament which will be convened on November 21, 2024.

The 29 candidates from the national list will be selected out of 516 candidates from 27 recognized political parties and 11 candidates from two independent groups.

A total of 17,140,354 eligible voters in 25 administrative districts coming under 22 electoral constituencies will get to use their vote to elect the representatives of the Tenth Parliament today at the Parliamentary Election, the Election Commission said.

Voting will be carried out at 13,421 polling stations in the country with approximately 152,000 election officials and 27,000 police officials deployed on duty.

Counting of polls will be conducted at 54 counting centres in the country with 1,582 counting halls for general votes and 452 counting halls for postal votes with a total of 2,034 counting halls. A total of 22 centres have been established to announce election results. A total of around 80,000 election officials are deployed at the vote counting centres.

Out of the total of 737,902 postal votes, 759,083 postal vote applications have been received and 737,902 postal vote applications have been accepted.

A total of 14,150 ballot boxes consisting of 7,850 small, 3,775 medium and 2,525 large sized have been used for this year’s Parliamentary Election.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake advised all voters to use only the ‘X’ symbol to mark the vote for the political party or independent group and to mark the preference votes for 1 to 3 candidates on the ballot paper.

Ballot papers marked by any voters with any other symbols, numbers, images or letters other than the ‘X’ symbol will be rejected, the Elections Commissioner said.

A total of 64,000 Police officials have been deployed on election duty for today’s (14) Parliamentary Election, Police Media Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa said. These Police officials have been deployed covering all polling stations and counting centres across the country.

2017 SLTB and private buses have been deployed to be used for election duties from yesterday and for today’s Parliamentary election activities.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has set up a special programme to address potential disasters during the General Election period and according to DMC Director Pradeep Kodippili, a dedicated unit is set up at the Centre to manage any emergencies which has been launched on November 12 and will work closely with the Elections Secretariat over a five day period, covering two days before and two days after the election on November 14.

The Elections Commissioner said that ballot papers, ballot boxes, stationery items, all election related equipment and election officials were transported yesterday to 13,421 polling stations from the District Secretariat offices and special temporary Election offices set up for the General Election in the country.

The Election Commissioner also said that rehearsals were also conducted yesterday on how the Parliamentary Election should be conducted with the assistance of the Election Secretariat office.

Executive Director of the PAFFREL Organization, Rohana Hettiarachchi said that a group of 6,000 representatives have been deployed for the monitoring of the Parliamentary Election.

(dailynews.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by dailynews.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

News

President AKD to undertake official visit to Germany

Published

6 hours ago

June 9, 2025

editor

President Anura Kumara Disanayaka will undertake an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany from June 11 – 13, 2025 on the invitation of the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

During this visit President Disanayaka will hold bilateral discussions with the President of Germany, key ministers of the Federal Government and other dignitaries to discuss new avenues for cooperation including in the spheres of trade, digital economy, investment and vocational training opportunities based on the government priorities.

President Disanayaka will Chair a Business Forum, organized by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), with key industries in Germany to highlight Sri Lanka’s economic transformation, investment opportunities available, growth potential of the country and opportunities for building new trade ties between the two countries.

Further, the President will meet tourism and travel industry associations of Germany during this visit.

The President will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism – Vijitha Herath and senior government officials.

News

2nd capacity-building program under NCGG-SLIDA MoU concludes

Published

6 hours ago

June 9, 2025

editor

The second customized training program for Sri Lankan civil service officers under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) was successfully conducted from 26 May to 6 June 2025.

A total of 40 Sri Lankan officers participated in the program, which focused on strengthening public administration through digital governance and innovation.

The training program is part of a larger commitment under the MoU, signed during the state visit of the President of Sri Lanka, – Anura Kumara Disanayaka, to India in December 2024, aimed at training 1500 Sri Lankan civil servants over a period of five years.

Previously, 41 Sri Lankan civil servants attended the inaugural program on the same theme from 21 April to 02 May 2025.
The training focused on avenues for transforming governance through digital technologies – covering areas such as enhancing online public services, building robust digital infrastructure, expanding access to financial services via digital payments, and improving the way public grievances are addressed using innovative digital solutions. Senior Indian officials and domain experts shared insights into India’s leading digital governance initiatives such as ‘Aadhaar’, Digital Payments and Financial Inclusion, Government e-Marketplace (GeM), Public Finance Management System, among others. The participants also undertook field visits to key institutions such as the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, Election Commission of India, PM Gati Shakti Anubhuti Kendra, National e-Governance Division and the Computerized Land Record Centre in Uttarakhand. The program concluded with a cultural visit to the Taj Mahal.

Capacity-building is an important pillar of India’s development cooperation with Sri Lanka. Reinforcing India’s commitment further in this sector, Prime Minister of India during his recent state visit to Sri Lanka in April 2025 announced additional 700 customized training slots annually for Sri Lankan professionals. This significantly enhanced capacity-building endeavour of India thus will now benefit 1000 Sri Lankans annually.

News

Govt. urged to cap mask & sanitiser prices

Published

8 hours ago

June 9, 2025

editor

The National Consumers’ Front (NCF) Chairman Asela Sampath has called on the Government to impose a controlled price on surgical masks and sanitisers, warning of a potential health crisis.

He said this during a media briefing.

Pointing out that the current price of a surgical face mask has increased to Rs. 50, he urged it to be reduced to Rs.10.

Although manufacturers have cited increased costs of raw materials as the reason, Sampath has emphasised that it is the responsibility of the government to intervene immediately.

“If the government does not reduce the prices of raw materials used to produce these essential items, the public will be forced to stop using them risking the onset of another pandemic-like disaster,” he warned.