By A.A. Pemasiri

Nine government officers who promoted presidential candidates in violation of the Establishment Code have been removed from election duties, according to Hambantota District Returning Officer, H.P. Sumanasiri. Contacted for comment, he said they were part of a group of 19 officers currently under investigation for the same offence.

Among the errant officials were three doctors, one public health inspector, nine principals, a vice principal, four teachers, and a manager of a Samurdhi Bank, Sumanasiri said.

Sumanasiri said the Public Administration Circular 32/2017 classified Staff Grade Officers and Non-Staff Grade Officers in the Public Service and Provincial Public Service. That circular and the Establishment Code made it clear that such officials could not exercise political rights other than voting, and specified the procedures to be followed in dealing with errant officials, he said.

“Subsection 1:2 of Chapter XXXII of the Establishment Code states that ‘an officer not entitled to the exercise of political rights is prohibited, under threat of dismissal, from engaging in any form of political activity except casting his vote in a Presidential Election, Parliamentary Election, Referendum, Provincial Council Election, or Local Authorities Election,” Sumanasiri said.

The Establishment Code further specified that the aforementioned officers could participate in any election, Sumanasiri added.

Schools will be closed today in view of tomorrow’s presidential election. They will reopen on Monday (23).The Education Ministry said a large number of schools would be used as polling centres on Saturday.

All Zonal Education Directors and principals had been instructed to provide necessary tables, chairs and hall facilities for election officers for their activities, the Education Ministry said.

The 2024 Presidential Election will take place on Saturday (21), with 17,140,280 voters across the country eligible to elect Sri Lanka’s ninth Executive President.

By Hemantha Randunu, Dilip S. Jayasekera, and Piyasiri Ariyarathne

Four persons were shot dead and two others wounded in separate incidents that occurred in Tangalle, Dehiwala, Rasnayakapura, and Midigama on Wednesday night and Thursday morning (19).The police said those shootings had been over personal disputes, they were not politically motivated.

Thirty-three-year-old Nayagam Wishwanadan was shot dead around 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday inside a shop on Saranankara Road, within the Kohuwala police division. Nayagam, the shop owner, resided in Nedimala, Dehiwala. Two men who arrived on a motorcycle carried out the attack. The assailants entered the shop, asking for a cigarette before opening fire on Nayagam, who had no prior criminal record.

In a separate incident on Thursday morning (19th), one person was killed, and two others were seriously injured in a shooting in

Midigama. According to the police, two unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on the victims, killing 38-year-old Kelum Chathuranga. The other two victims are receiving treatment at Karapitiya Hospital. Police suspect that associates of Midigama Chooti carried out the attack.

Another shooting on Wednesday resulted in the death of a 30-year-old man at a restaurant in Rasnayakapura, Kurunegala. The victim was a resident of Thammuwewa, Rasnayakapura.Meanwhile, on Wednesday, 33-year-old Deshan Eranda, a cowherder, was shot dead in Dematawewa, Tangalle. Eranda was killed with a 12-bore shotgun.