A prudent move

The decision taken by Minister Dinesh Gunawardena for de-listing of dormant political parties from the country’s electoral register as expected has raised a hornet’s nest among fringe political parties.

Speaking at a public function, Minister Gunawardena who is also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Public Reforms revealed that out of the 57 registered political parties in the country only 21 were active and that legislation would be introduced to ban all political parties which are inactive.

Predictably some fledgling parties have taken up cudgels with the Minister. They claim his own party the MEP which had been out of the fray for some time too should fall into this category. There are others who also contend that even the SLFP had been out of the picture since 1994 having coalesced with leftist and other minority parties to form the PA and later the UPFA.

Political parties such as the SLFP and the MEP had been pioneering actors in the country’s electoral history and it is only the foolhardy who could argue for their discontinuation. Ditto for parties like the CP and the LSSP whose origins predate even the major parties such the UNP and the SLFP.

However, over the years splinter groups have emerged from the these Left parties and the latest phenomenon is the formation of political parties by breakaway groups of various parties.

Add this we have parties representing Trade Union movements and also sectarian interests not to mention a plethora of ethnic parties. Time was when the voter was familiar with only a few election symbols representing the major parties.

In contrast today we have lengthy ballot papers depicting the symbols of a whole plethora of political parties and independent groups confusing the unsophisticated rural voter. The huge percentage of spoilt votes at recently conducted elections no doubt is the result of this confusion especially among the aged and infirm voters.

Of course some would argue that more the number of political parties the more democracy would be strengthened giving play to diversity of ideas and options within the national polity.

Advocates of this theory may also contend that it is through the proliferation of political parties that uprisings could be avoided. Others may argue that more political parties could only further polarise an already fractious electorate leading to more violence and alienation. Both points may have a validity.

But judging from the character of some of these new found parties it is clear to all that these are mere appendages of the major political parties and are not formed with the intention of achieving electoral success on their own.

They are there only for nuisance value for example to extend TV time for the party whom they support. No fringe political party in the Lankan polity had been capable of doing a Bharatha Janatha Party of India where from a paltry four seats in the Lokh Sabha it emerged to be the ruling party within the course of a decade.

Hence, of these political parties are redundant. They can only clutter up the electoral exercise. As it stands today the option of registering a new political party is at the sole discretion of Commissioner of Elections.

There were some aspirants who filed court cases due to the non- recognition of their party by the Commissioner. Here it was contended that an aspiring political party has to show a certain percentage of membership to qualify for recognition.

The counter argument by the aggrieved party was that membership accrues only after a party is formed. It is perhaps this precedent that has given the licence for people to register new political parties - some with ulterior motives.

Hence laws are needed to make the Commissioner’s word final in this respect. There are also those who form parties for the sole purpose of aligning themselves with major political parties to obtain material benefits. If this the motive of these parties then Minister Gunawardena is justified in his decision to scrap political parties that keep on mushrooming.

The country’s electoral register is already overcrowded and increasingly rendering itself unwieldy. There are also unscrupulous elements forming political parties to get rid of their black money in the guise of campaign funding. In the end it is the innocent voter who is taken for a ride.

Elections no doubt should be vibrant affairs but this certainly is no justification for the proliferation of political parties without let or hindrance. There is enough fire and brimstone from the major parties without bit players adding to the cacophony.

True, there are many capable politicians in these fledgling parties who could make a contribution towards the country. The contribution made by great Leftist leaders of the Calibre of the Dr. N.M.Perera and Dr.Colvin R. De Silva in the coalition Governments comes to mind.

Minister Gunawardena himself is a good example of this. His service would have been lost to the country had he refused to coalesce his party with a mainstream entity. Similarly others of his ilk should rethink their options and make a contribution towards the country instead of raving and ranting against Government’s standing.

They need not compromise their policies in this endeavour. This could pave the way for arresting the indiscriminate enlisting of political parties to add to the chaos in the political landscape.