COLOMBO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's main Tamil party has called for international monitors to participate in the upcoming elections in the former war-torn Northern Province of the island, an official said here on Monday.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran told media that foreign monitors would provide an independent evaluation of the provincial council elections and reduce malpractices from the government.
He charged that the government was already using the army to lobby for votes and insisted that such practices would not be curtailed in the run up to the election in September.
"The TNA will issue a manifesto of its election plan once it has met with all its members," he added.
Last Friday the Sri Lankan president officially notified the elections commissioner to conduct the first post-war provincial council in the north after decades.
Issuing the short statement the President's Office noted that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had signed the proclamation, which officially allows the provincial council elections to be held in the former northern war zone of the country.
Sri Lanka ended a brutal three decade war with the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) in 2009 but despite several pledges made by Rajapaksa to the United Nations and the international community, elections in the Northern Province failed to materialize.
The government also plans to hold the North-Western and Central provincial council elections on the same day.
The Election Commissioner earlier said that elections for the three provincial councils will be held on September 21 or 28.
The Gazette notification calling for nominations from political parties is expected to be released this week.
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