Sri Lanka's election commission shocked the island on Monday by taking over state-run media four days before the vote and after weeks of charges that newspapers and television favoured President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party.
Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said he was using his powers under the constitution to appoint a new authority - the first time a commissioner has used such power.
"It's something good, in the run-up to elections, to avoid reportage which might lead to any problems," the newly appointed Competent Authority for state media, Lakshman Perera, told Reuters.
Dissanayake's statement mentioned only state radio and television, but Perera said his authority would also extend to print.
Kumaratunga took over state media last November in a feud with her rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, replacing officials with those loyal to her - and appointing her spokesman to head state television.
State media have been dogged by allegations of bias throughout the election campaign, which pits Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance in a close race with Wickremesinghe's United National Party.
A court challenge was expected, although presidential spokesman Harim Peiris said he would not speculate on that.
"I'm extremely surprised. At no point has the elections commissioner pointed out any violations of his guidelines (on fair reporting)," he told Reuters.
He also questioned why the commissioner had not acted against private newspapers and television stations - some of which are owned by relatives of Wickremesinghe - which the president's backers say are biased against the Freedom Alliance.
Dissanayake, who is independent and has strong powers under the constitution, has been under pressure for weeks to move on the state media.
Four local election monitoring bodies issued a statement this month urging him to take action "to ensure that the publicly owned media institutions can truly serve the public during the campaign period".
One state-run newspaper has been accused by an independent polling group of distorting survey results to show support for Kumaratunga's Freedom Alliance. It denied the charge.
Sunanda Deshapriya, who heads the non-partisan Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, said the take-over would ensure state media comply with a blackout on political programming in the 72 hours prior to the vote.
"In the past, state media has used the blackout period (to continue reporting)," said Deshapriya.
With most of the island reliant on state-owned media for information, the stance of newspapers, television and radio can be influential, although Wickremesinghe's party won the last election in 2001 without having control of the state press.
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