It is with great concern that Transparency International Sri Lanka’s Program for Protection of Public Resources (PPPR) issues its first interim report related to the forthcoming Presidential Election where already a massive amount of public resources ranging from state funds to public officials have been utilized for election campaigning purposes.
Keeping with its mandate of minimizing corruption in Sri Lanka, the PPPR launched its monitoring activities on 21st November 2014, a day after the incumbent President declared an election, to ensure that public resources are not misused and abused during the election period. Obtaining the required approvals from the Department of Election, the PPPR team deployed a vast network of election observers covering all 25 districts to specifically monitor the misuse of public resources. The PPPR also opened its hotlines / email and fax numbers to receive public complaints related to this issue and have so far recorded over 170 complaints. Six observations reports have also been submitted for the action of the Election Commissioner with several of them receiving a positive outcome.