Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) warned Thursday that the forthcoming local elections in the country may not be free and fair.

The UNP spokesman Tissa Attanayake told reporters that mass scale transfers of police personnel are being effected by the government which could be a move to favor the ruling party.

The nominations are closing here Thursday to elect representatives for 330 local councils for a four-year term.

"The police officers are being transferred throughout the country. We feel suspicious about the motive of the transfers and we are thinking of taking legal action to prevent the transfers," Attanayake said.

He said the transfers will impede the process of conducting a free and fair election.

Although the election date is yet to be announced by the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake, it is expected that the election will be held before April 30.

The UNP said they will be contesting 310 of the 330 councils on offer and will field over 4,600 candidates.

The party controls a larger majority of the councils which they won in the last local election held in 2002.

Source: Xinhua