Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) National Coordinator Manjula Gajanayaka has resigned from his post from December 31 for personal reasons. His letter of resignation had been handed over to the Centre a month ago.
The CMEV was founded in 1997 as an independent organisation to monitor election-related violence in Sri Lanka jointly by the CPA, Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition Against Political Violence.
When Gajanayaka accepted the post of CMEV in 2013, it was more or less an entity that came to life only during an election.
The first election monitored with Gajanayaka as the National Coordinator was the Northern Provincial Council Election and the final report by the CMEV on the election was acclaimed locally and internationally.
Since then, the CMEV has played an active role to ensure elections in Sri Lanka were free and fair. Among the many initiatives taken by the CMEV under Gajanayaka's guidance was the call for better female representation in Sri Lankan politics. The CMEV along with other such organisations had conducted many workshops throughout the island to empower aspiring women politicians. A CMEV initiative has brought to light the colossal amounts of money spent on election campaigns. Its initiative resulted in removing a Local Government (LG) Councillor for spending heavily on constituents during the 2018 LG polls. It stands as a warning to all politicians and aspirants who spend millions and billions of rupees on election campaigns.
Gajanayaka has an excellent rapport with all stakeholders in the field, especially with the Election Commission of Sri Lanka and the media.
He is yet to disclose his future plans.
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