European and Commonwealth elections monitors are in Sri Lanka on an invitation extended by the Commissioner of Elections to observe the 2015 parliamentary elections on 17 August.

The European observer team headed by Cristian Preda, a Romanian member of the European Parliament, comprises over 70 members from different EU countries, as well as Norway and Switzerland.

The European team will spread out in 22 districts in all nine provinces to monitor the campaign activities, the conduct of the media, the voting and the counting, the complaints and appeals process and the announcement of the results.

The nine-member Commonwealth team led by the former President of Malta, Dr. George Abela is mandated to observe and consider the various factors affecting the credibility of the electoral process as a whole.

The Commonwealth observers are scheduled to tour the Western, Central, Northern, North Central, and North Western provinces and pay special attention to the 48 hour campaign-free period prior to the poll day as well as on voting, vote counting and release of results.

Both groups will submit detailed reports at the end of their observation missions.