Sri Lanka Presidential Elections: No Protection for ‘Proxies’
(COLOMBO) – The Sri Lankan defence authorities will provide special security only to the main candidates contesting the September 21 presidential elections where some 39 persons have registered to contest.
Apart from the main candidates numbering around six the remaining have been described as proxies working for some of the main candidates and security will not be provided for them, a senior police official said.
He said that officers from the Ministerial Security Division (MSD) and the Special Task Force (STF) personnel will be assigned to protect leading candidates and that the security measures for each candidate will vary depending on the individual and their threat assessments.
Following the conclusion of making deposits for the Presidential Election on Wednesday, the committee responsible for candidates’ safety met with coordinators for each candidate to discuss the security protocols to be implemented, said.
The official said that coordinators have been briefed how to manage their candidates’ security and the provisions made by the committee.
The four main political candidates—President Ranil Wickremesinghe, main Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, NPP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and Namal Rajapaksa—will commence their campaign rallies shortly after the nominations and end on August 15, with each party aiming to complete 100 rallies.
The official said that the committee had instructed each coordinator to provide the schedule of their candidates’ upcoming campaign meetings.
The official also said that security for candidates will vary depending on the location of the election rallies.
During the entire election period, security measures will be overseen by the Police and STF, with the armed forces remaining on standby to assist upon request from the Sri Lanka Police.
It has been reported that the Chief of Defence Staff has instructed all security force commanders to keep military forces on standby.
Earlier, the Cabinet approved the formation of a committee to ensure the safety of Presidential candidates. This committee, chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Public Security, includes Chief of Defence Staff General Shavendra Silva, Senior DIG (Election) Asanka Karavita and the Chief of National Intelligence.
