Congratulating the people of Sri Lanka on the historic Provincial Council elections, the U.S. today stated that the high turn-out and participation in all three of the provinces holding elections is a “victory for the democratic process”.

The U.S. Embassy in Colombo, however, stated that it remains “concerned” about reports of elections violence and urged a transparent and independent investigation into the “various attacks” and that the perpetrators be brought to justice swiftly. 

“Particularly troubling have been reports of involvement by uniformed individuals in these acts,” the Embassy said in a statement.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has charged that the military was intimidating supporters and forcing them to stay away from voting while domestic monitoring groups claim uniformed security personnel have been engaging in campaigning for the ruling party.

Election officials said they had “plenty of complaints” before and during Saturday’s vote, but there were no major incidents during a nine-hour voting period on Saturday.

The U.S. Embassy stated that a process “free of violence and intimidation” in the Northern Province is required for greater civilian administration and to help further the reconciliation process four years after the war and that these elections provided a “starting point” for that process. 

“Democracy is not simply about elections, however, and more must be done to ensure that Sri Lankans of all communities can live in the peace and dignity that they deserve,” the statement said.