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Dispatch of Election Observers for the General Election in Sri Lanka

March 2004

  1. The Government of Japan has dispatched the government mission of election observer for the purpose of monitoring general election in Sri Lanka to be held on April 2 (Friday), 2004. This is the first instance for the Government of Japan to send election observers to Sri Lanka.
  2. The decision by the Japanese Government to dispatch of the mission of election observer follows the invitation by the Sri Lanka Commissioner of Elections to the four co-chairs of the "Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka" (Japan, the United States, Norway, and the European Union).

    The mission is comprised of Foreign Ministry officials and experts on Sri Lanka. The mision dispatched on 29 April will remain in Sri Lanka for approximately 1 week in order to monitor the voting.
  3. The general election is being held as a result of the dissolution of parliament by President Chandrika Kumaratunga on February 7. The peace process between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has been in place since February 2002, and it is extremely important for the further advancement of the peace process and economic reconstruction in Sri Lanka to ensure that the parliamentary elections are free and fair, and conducted in an atmosphere free of political violence throughout the country are extremely important.
  4. Japan has been supporting the Sri Lankan peace process positively through its reconstruction and development assistance in hope that a "consolidation of peace" will take root in Sri Lanka. The involvement of the Japanese Government in the peace process in Sri Lanka will be further increased by the dispatch of election observers.
  5. As a part of its assistance for the Sri Lankan general election, Japan also provided grassroots human security grant aid of an estimated aggregate of US$30,000 for preparing teaching materials and holding seminars for election monitoring to a non-governmental organization (NGO) "People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL)," which monitors elections in Sri Lanka.
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