Silence period begins ahead of Local Government election

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The election campaigning activities related to the 2025 Local Government (LG) election officially concluded at midnight yesterday (03),
marking the start of the silence period, which will remain in effect until Election Day on May 6.During this period, no campaign activities
are permitted, according to the National Election Commission.All candidates and parties have also been informed not to engage in any form of
campaigning during this period, Commissioner General of Elections, Saman Sri Ratnayake stated.Meanwhile, the Police have announced that
legal action will be strictly enforced against anyone who violates the law during the silence period starting today.The Police Media
Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Buddhika Manatunga noted that if anyone is found displaying posters, banners, or cutouts
unlawfully during this time, steps will be taken to remove them.The Police Media Spokesman also said that more than 65,000 police officers
have been deployed for election duties related to the LG election.The 2025 Local Government election will take place on Tuesday (May 6) to
elect members for 339 local government bodies across the island.Voting is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m
and will conclude at 4 p.m.A total of 17,156,338 individuals are eligible to cast their votes at the election.A total of 75,589 candidates
Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has decided to deploy approximately 3,000 observers.Executive Director of PAFFREL Rohana
Hettiarachchi stated that observers will be assigned to monitor the election process throughout the country.