The March 12 Movement (M12M) and other organisations will create a platform for the presidential hopefuls to present their manifestos and answer queries raised by the public at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium on October 5. This is the first venture of this nature to ever take place in the country.
M12M’s Steering Committee member Manjula Gajanayake said they will select five candidates to take part in the event.
“The move encourages people to submit questions for candidates through social media platforms and direct post. Our committee will select questions from them,” Gajanayake said.
He added the movement is creating a website that will carry five-minute video clips of other candidates (he believes there will be over 15) presenting their policies.
Meanwhile, the Association for Friendship and Love (AFRIEL) will also introduce (on Oct 5) 3,000 trained citizen observers to the National Election Commission and other election monitoring bodies to tackle corruption and abuse of public recourses by candidates during the upcoming Presidential Elections.
The youth based volunteer network AFRIEL has selected citizen representatives from 1,000 villages across the country.
“We have trained them to work with relevant authorities to flag bribery and corruption during the elections”, its Executive Director Ravindra de Silva said.