Electoral reforms to transform political landscape

Ravi LADDUWAHETTY

Sri Lanka’s political landscape will soon change with the proposed electoral reforms, the highlight being the possibility of establishing a stable Government with the ruling party being able to enjoy a stable working majority, a sine -qua- non for political stability, rapid economic development and investor confidence.

There will be no king makers or queen makers like in at present where minority parties and their leaders will be able to hold the leaders of the major parties to ransom with sweeping demands for the formation of governments. We have seen in this in the Chandrika Kumaratunga Presidency where she established the government in 1994 with a majority of a mere one vote but managed to run both terms.

The king and queen makers all this time have been the CWC, SLMC and the EPDP.

Then we also saw the abridged Ranil Wickremesinghe Government which had 109 UNP seats and had to tie up with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress for their five seats to form the Government which had 114 seats.

New formula

The composition of the new Parliament under the new reforms will see Sri Lanka divided into 140 single member constituencies to return 140 members which will see the fresh delimitation to demarcate 140 polling divisions.

Of the balance, there will be 70 Members of Parliament elected based on the District Proportional Representation (DPR) system which will be apportioned in the following manner.

A. Out of the total votes polled for each District, the votes of the winning candidate of the respective political party will be eliminated for the apportionment of the PR seats.

B. The votes of all the other candidates of all the electorates within the same district will be totalled and divided by the total number of DPR seats allocated for the respective district to ascertain the “qualifying number”.

C. The party entitlement of seats under the DPR will be determined according to the number of votes received by each party through the District through the other candidates having divided the said aggregate by the qualifying number.

D. Out of the candidates who contest the elections under the same party in the same district, the candidate to be elected will be the one who will receive the highest percentage of votes from each of the electorate.

However, the ratio will also vary according to the circumstances prevailing in each district.

The area, population and ethnic diversities of voters in each district may be taken into consideration when determining the number of District MPs to be elected for each district.

Each party will be required to submit a list of candidates at the time of nominations to constitute the National List MPs which can be those who will be contesting and those who will be not. It is also stressed that a fair percentage of women will be included in the list.

A. Five seats from the National List will be allocated to the party securing the highest number of valid votes at the election ( bonus seats)

B. Out of the balance ten seats, three seats will be allocated for the representation of unrepresented minority parties who would have polled a national vote exceeding the natural cut off point but not qualified for a seat under the first past the post system and/or the district PR system.

In the event that none of these parties succeed in qualifying for those seats, they will remain s national list seats.

C. The balance number of seats will be apportioned on the basis of the strength of the votes each party received at the national level. Candidates to be appointed on the basis of the proportionate allocation will be decided by the party secretary.

It has also been recommended that the legal provision to be formulated to make it mandatory that every candidate nominated by a party secretary from the National List will be a woman candidate.

Whenever there are vacancies in the territorial constituencies (where the MPs elected under the First Past the Post system), it has been proposed that a by election be held for that constituency. Such a by election should not affect the DPR composition of the District under consideration.

Any vacancy occurring in the DPR seats should be filled by electing a person from the respective party who has polled the next highest percentage of votes within the constituency. A vacancy in the National List allocation could be filled could be filled by another candidate in the list being nominated by the Secretary of the party.

It has been proposed that the present system of proportional representation and the preference voting will be done away with and replaced with a mixed system of elections combining the first past the post system and proportional representation system on a 2:1 ratio which is in line with the proposed Parliamentary election system.

It has also been the view of the Parliamentary Select Committee that in the holding of the Provincial councils elections, due consideration be given to the District boundaries and the PR allocation be based on the districts which is similar to the practice followed in the Parliamentary elections.

Local Government elections

The ward system of yore will be reintroduced. This is also an important landmark as Local Bodies are the stepping stones for budding politicians. In this context, former President Ranasinghe Premadasa comes to mind.

It has been proposed that the FPP system be introduced and a further 30% on the PR system. The principles to be operated the same basis as the Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections.

It has also been proposed that the electoral boundaries of the Local Government authorities are re-demarcated to form to form an electoral unit which is territorially and demographically smaller than the present unit to ensure that a wider community and community organisations participate in the process to facilitate the management and the diversification of the development and the economic needs of the area and also to ensure the democratic representation of minorities and minority communities.

Delimitation Commission

The re-demarcation of fresh electoral boundaries has been viewed as a vital component and the former Attorney General has indicated that the Commission should stand in perpetually. It has been proposed that Articles 95 and 99 to the Constitution be amended suitably and it is also proposed to take the concerns of the minorities also suitably.

The reforms will also entail the switching of the postal voting to advance voting where the candidates who will vote in advance will be required to vote at special voting centres which will be installed and managed by the representatives of the Elections Commissioner. This will also eliminate the intimidation of voters, elimination of instances of application for postal voting with incorrect information etc.

There will also be the enactment of the necessary laws to facilitate the continuous updating of voter registers, which will enable all voters to get registered for the polls at a much closer date of the elections which will make more people participate in them.

It has also been recommended that a re-poll be made compulsory in the event of an annulment by repealing the requirement of consultation with political parties for such a decision. This will also make the process transparent.

It has been proposed that the existing legal framework be modified to enable the fixing of the date of the polls for Referenda, Parliamentary and Presidential polls be vested with the Elections Commission rather than the Executive President.

It has been proposed that the election date will be on a Saturday which is seen as the minimum loss of man hours and six weeks after the nominations. The Elections Commissioner has also been of the view that the campaigning should not extend beyond the fifth week to minimise the expenses of the candidates. This will reduce their expenses as they will be canvassing within the confines of the electorate and not the District.

Police certificates, asset declarations and code of ethics Requisite laws will be framed for all candidates to attach a police clearance certificate against criminal charges at the time of handing over the nominations. It is also proposed to make it mandatory to have statements of assets and liabilities at the time of tendering nominations.

There will also be new legal provisions brought in compelling MPs to follow codes of ethics during the polls.

These steps will bring in more credibility to candidates and a new era free of political intimidation, crime will be ushered.

The declaration of the assets will also ensure that corrupt candidates do not enter the fray while making the process more transparent.

It has been recommended that the nomination of each candidate’s nomination should be subscribed by a proposer and seconder (who are both registered electors) of the constituency concerned.

Every candidate is required to place his National Identity Card number in the nomination paper to curb the inclusion of bogus candidates.

It has also been proposed that legal provisions be enacted for candidates to place security deposits. It has also been recommended that the distinction between the candidates of recognised political parties and independent groups be done away with and where all candidates make equal security deposits.

It has been observed that the time constraints challenging of election nominations before the elections are conducted are a hindrance to the smooth functioning of the process. Accordingly, legal provisions are to be enacted for election petitions to be filed only after the conclusion of the elections.

Congenial environment for polls

The role of the police officers will be clearly defined and spelt out by the Police Commission in consultation with the Elections Commission so that they do not remain passive and silent spectators while on election duty. This is a far reaching step but for this to be implemented, the Constitutional Council has to be established.

The Elections Commissioner has been of the view that legal provisions pertaining to the disturbances at polling stations under Section 48A of the Parliamentary Elections Act Section 46 A of the Presidential Elections Act and Section 46 A of the Provincial Council Act be further amended and to introduce the Local Authorities Elections Act accordingly appropriately in respect of the under mentioned matters which could arise on the day of the poll and the previous day.

The amended laws will make provisions for the adjournment of the poll and fresh polls to be held within 14 days from the appointed date of the poll

(a) If it is not possible to conduct the poll due to reasons beyond the control of the Presiding Officer (b) If one or more polling agents are threatened, assaulted, or chased out during the poll (c) Non arrival of the polling staff at the polling station due to the obstruction of the way (d) If the disturbance of peace at the polling station making it impossible to take the poll (e) if the stuffing of the ballot papers is done forcibly by a person or persons and (f) Whenever there is no genuine, free, equal secret poll at any polling station, the Commissioner should exercise the powers vested in him to annul and invalidate the poll. Provisions will also be made to hold a fresh poll within 14 days of the annulment.

It has also been proposed that from the time of the announcement of the elections, till the conclusion, Ministers and others of the ruling party shall not announce any financial grants in any form of promises, lay foundation stones or projects of any schemes, making any promises of construction of roads, make ad-hoc appointments in state organisations. Ministers of Central or Provincial Governments are also prohibited from entering any polling station except in their capacities as candidates, voter or authorising agent.

Every political party recognised by the Elections Commissioner/ Commission should publish their accounts annually and these financial statements must be audited by a party to be nominated by the Elections Commissioner.

No association or body of persons (except a political party) or individual should be allowed to incur any election expenditure without the written authority of the candidate concerned or his election agent.

Any person violating this provision is liable for punishment. Any violator, on conviction, will be disqualified to become a Member of Parliament or any Legislation for a period of seven years. This will also be a further step for good governance and transparency.

It has been proposed that all the Amendments to Election Laws will be brought under one Act. This will mean that there will be less ambiguity and duplication of resources. Convenience of implementation will also be there.