Sri Lanka's army commander, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake on Monday said the army "must have information on the candidates contesting the Local Government elections".
In an interview to BBC Sinhala, Lt General Senanayake claimed the information was needed to for the protection of the candidates, not to monitor them.
"Gathering information on candidates and other key members of society does not mean they are being monitored," he was quoted by Colombo Gazette as saying.
"However, if a situation arises where those candidates or others need military protection then the army needs to have background information on them."