Sri Lanka poll authorities have announced a ban on posters  and cardboard cut-outs in the run up to the ballot for the 225-member Parliament.

‘All posters and giant cut-outs of candidates must be removed unless these are at the party offices or used at election rallies’, Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said in a decree citing electoral regulations.

This rule was flouted during the Presidential election held in January. President Mahinda Rajapaksa trounced his loyal commander turned challenger Sarath Fonseka by a huge margin in the ballot that also featured several other candidates.

Polling in the Parliamentary elections will take place in a month. The odds favour Rajapaksa led coalition since the opposition is in a disarry after the rout in the Presidential election.

Media reports say that removing the offending posters is not going to be easy particularly with the ruling coalition having plastered all vantage positions across the country in an unprecedented display of its new strength. Posters of President Rajapaksa, his three brothers and his son gaze down on roads and streets.