Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government took to ensure that the recent election in Sri Lanka was free and fair; and if he will make a statement.

The UK joined an EU Heads of Mission statement on 2 January calling for the elections to be peaceful, credible and transparent. We encouraged the government of Sri Lanka to invite international observers, including from the EU and the Commonwealth, and provided support to local election monitoring groups. Officials from the British High Commission in Colombo also travelled around the country in the run-up to elections, observing the preparations and voting process, and co-ordinating closely with like-minded diplomatic missions and local groups.