By Skandha Gunasekara With less than a month to go for polls, presidential election campaigning may have taken a turn for the worse with incidents of violence being reported along with increased accounts of hate speech. The election monitoring body, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), said that it had received a total of 232 complaints relating to election law violations and violence, thus far. Meanwhile, the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said that it had received 122 complaints since the 2019 presidential election was announced. These include two instances of violence – one was an attack and damage to movable property while the other was an assault. The complaints received by PAFFREL also included nine instances of abuse of state power and resources, eight pertaining to the use of state employees and security forces personnel for campaign activities, and six more where appointments or transfers were carried out in state institutions. A further 22 of these complaints were concerning illegal propaganda activities that directly violated election laws. Spread of disinformation The Campaign for Free and Fair Election (CaFFE) said that 185 complaints had been lodged with them pertaining to election law violations and violence. CaFFE Executive Director Ahmed Manas Makeen said the spread of disinformation regarding national security was an aspect being heavily featured during this campaigning period. “A certain political camp is using the issue of national security to incite fear in the voters and have begun spreading false information in this regard hoping to garner more votes,” he said. He said that several reports of threats to national security had been reported in areas such as Mattakkuliya, Gampaha, and Hatton. CaFFE has requested the EC and security forces to investigate whether there is an organised group spreading rumours on incidents related to national security, he said. “This might be done to obtain an advantage at the coming presidential election.” He said that social media was rife with rumours of false information regarding national security. “There were rumours about bomb blasts in three separate areas on Wednesday. There is a possibility that these were deliberately spread. If some parties believe that they can get an advantage in the election by spreading rumours, that will be a serious problem,” Makeen said. He said that immediate legal action must be taken against those who spread disinformation regarding national security. “CaFFE too had set up a monitoring body to collect and investigate rumours that are being spread across social media,” he said. Additionally, CaFFE said that the Leader and presidential candidate of the Jana Setha Peramuna Ven. Battaramulle Seelarathana Thera had complained to CaFFE that fake posts regarding his election manifesto were being shared on social media. “The thera told us that there seems to be a deliberate ploy to embarrass his party by an organised group. The thera added that these social media posts have become extremely popular and that now it’s almost impossible for the party to inform the people of their real policies,” Makeen said. CaFFE said that such deliberate disinformation campaigns were extremely dangerous and that immediate steps should be taken to address these concerns. Additionally, the EC condemned the use of the Army Commander’s image and the endorsement of SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a local newspaper. EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya, addressing a media briefing on Wednesday (16), said that while the comment on Rajapaksa made by Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva may have been an old comment, using it now with his current designation was unacceptable. “The use of the Army Commander’s official position to support a candidate is very disappointing. This should never happen in a healthy democracy and is a stain on our political culture,” Deshapriya said. Deshapriya said the EC had written to the political party in concern as well as the Presidential Secretariat and the Ministry of Defence. “We have written to the General Secretary and Campaign Manager of the political party in concern. We have also written to the Presidential Secretariat and the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence calling for clarifications.” In addition, the EC urged the Army Chief to make a statement to rectify the matter. The Army Chief later responded to the Elections Commission saying that his remarks had been used without his permission. He said that his comments used in a newpaper advertisement had been done on an earlier occassion and had no relation to the upcoming elections. He added that he could not take responsibility for the newspaper using it out of context sans his approval.