By Skandha Gunasekara The Election Commission (EC) would be monitoring the situation in order to arrive at a decision with regard to changing election laws and guidelines, amidst calls for a free and fair election from civil society. Election Commissioner General Saman Sri Ratnayake, said that it was still uncertain how the election would be conducted during the pandemic. “We have to see how things will play out before we can decide on what kind of changes would be made to the election process," he said. He pointed out that they would probably have to reevaluate various processes with the guidance of health authorities before holding the election. “For example there is a process followed when we issue ballot papers for postal votes. We will have to explain this process to the health authorities and seek their advice on how to make it more suitable for a situation such as the Covid-19 outbreak,” he noted. According to Ratnayake, all in the country, including the EC, had to strictly follow the directives provided by the health authorities. Meanwhile, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has called on the EC to issue a fresh circular regarding the abuse of state resources during the run up to the election. “In light of relief work having to take place during the campaign period, we believe the current circular (2020/03) issued on 3 March 2020, on state resource abuse is inadequate for these exceptional times. The circular itself recognises the election date as 25 April 2020, which was prior to the full understanding of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact,” TISL Executive Director Asoka Obeysekere wrote in a letter to the EC.