{"id":52220,"date":"2012-08-25T21:04:09","date_gmt":"2012-08-25T21:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=52220"},"modified":"2012-09-01T19:11:17","modified_gmt":"2012-09-01T19:11:17","slug":"abuse-free-elections-the-leadership-must-show-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/abuse-free-elections-the-leadership-must-show-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Abuse-Free Elections: The Leadership Must Show The Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

There are all kinds of elections.\u00a0 We have general or parliamentary elections. We have presidential elections, elections for local government authorities and provincial councils.\u00a0 There are elections to all kinds of bodies. \u00a0So we have \u2018election\u2019 preceded by \u2018general\u2019, \u2018provincial council\u2019, \u2018presidential\u2019 etc.\u00a0 And yet, that\u2019s just description of event and not phenomenon.\u00a0 The phenomenon called elections are associated more readily with words like \u2018fraud\u2019, \u2018violence\u2019, \u2018rigging\u2019, \u2018impersonation\u2019 and of course what has sadly acquired to-be-expected status: abuse of state property.<\/p>\n

We have come far from the days when D.S. Senanayake \u2018protected democracy\u2019 with a club.\u00a0 We saw the hijacking of democracy first with the infamous referendum in 1982 to seek a 50% + 1 majority in order to keep a five-sixths majority in parliament, followed by malpractices at the election itself.\u00a0 \u00a0We have lived through the JVP threat, \u2018the first to cast a vote will get a bullet\u2019.\u00a0 We went through \u2018Wayamba 1999\u2019.\u00a0 We had perhaps the cleanest election in recent times in 2004, courtesy the 17th<\/sup> Amendment and the Independent Elections Commission.\u00a0 We have come far but have a long way to go still.<\/p>\n

Today it is more about intra-party rivalry when it comes to violence. The incidence of violence too has dropped.\u00a0 And yet, the staggered nature of elections, the considerable sway over the media and other political pleasantries enjoyed by incumbents compromise democracy, both its spirit and substance.\u00a0 When all factors are considered, it is still hard to argue that recent electoral outcomes would have been reversed had the ruling party did not enjoy such benefits, but that\u2019s a poor excuse for abuse.<\/p>\n

The strength of abusers indicates and is fed by the relative weakness of the people.\u00a0 Sadly even those outfits which seek, in the name of the people, to play watchdog roles are compromised by party loyalties, preferred outcomes and donor-dependency, not to mention the various anti-people actions by prominent personalities who run them.\u00a0 Still, even if messenger is compromised, message remains worthy of perusal and cause for concern.\u00a0 Even if there are no funded-messengers, the people know that elections are not lovely, fraud-free affairs. They are not stupid.<\/p>\n

It is heartening to note that the Elections Commissioner, handicapped though he is by lack of teeth and absence of mechanisms to ensure independence, has decided not to hold back punches in combatting wrongdoing.\u00a0 Offices used by people who have flouted election laws have been sealed.\u00a0 Big name politicos known for strong arm tactics are being hounded as we write.\u00a0 These are laudable acts and welcome signs that the abuse of state resources will not go unchallenged.<\/p>\n

What is abundantly clear is that despite ample evidence to the effect that for all its errors and excesses the majority still prefer this regime to any alternative, the people have more confidence in the ruling party than the ruling party itself.\u00a0 That fear indicates that for all the braggadocio regarding outcomes, there is a shade of uncertainty, augmented by fear and also by the knowledge of the truth that they are not clean.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it is an occupational hazard; politicians don\u2019t trust the people because they know that they themselves are not trustworthy.\u00a0 This is what pushes the good to do the bad and once that happens there\u2019s no turning back; it becomes a habit.\u00a0 The truth is that the voter knows that saints don\u2019t offer themselves for elections. They will, as they have, choose the best out of the bad lot.\u00a0 The bad, as well as the less good, can always do better and no one is better positioned to help bring change in the sad political culture we are saddled with than those who call the shots, the ruling party.<\/p>\n

People will go along with a result that reflects majority will even if there\u2019s hanky panky.\u00a0 People will applaud, however, a true result, i.e. one where those who are best positioned to tweak the law if not break it without batting an eyelid rise above themselves and the political culture to uphold the law pertaining to elections.<\/p>\n

For this, guts are needed.\u00a0 For this wisdom is needed.\u00a0 Will the ruling party have the guts and the wisdom?\u00a0\u00a0 Will its leadership show the way?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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