President Maithripala Sirisena, no doubt, will receive the ringing endorsement of all civic -minded members of the public for his attempts to have clean elections. It is the usual practice for the ruling party to have all the cards stacked in its favour at elections, chiefly the ability to dish out largesse to the voters. There is also the abuse of public property such as the free use of Government vehicles that include chopper rides for campaigning. It is reported that foreign leaders including the US President Donald Trump have to pay the State for travel arrangements to political meetings.
President Sirisena has issued strict orders to all former MPs against misusing public property during the election period, on pain of legal action. At the time of writing, the Supreme Court verdict on the legality or otherwise of the dissolution of the Parliament by the President was still pending. But from all indications, political parties are gearing up for elections. Even the UNP, which had petitioned the Court, was in election mode with several of its spokesmen talking in terms of making Sajith Premadasa the Prime Ministerial candidate while proposals have also been made by the party to form a grand alliance to contest the election. Elections Commissions Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya is busy with the preliminaries to hold an election, the Supreme Court hearing notwithstanding.
It is in this backdrop that the President's orders assume significance. He has asked all former MPs, State Ministers and Deputy Ministers to return their vehicles and public property to the relevant Ministry Secretaries to avoid having legal action taken against them under Election laws. He reiterated that strict action would be taken against any member of the Government who misuses public property for election purposes. In his address to the nation on Sunday night, the President stated he would extend all support to the Elections Commission to ensure a free and fair election.
President Sirisena is perhaps the first Head of State to take affirmative action to ensure that a free and fair election is being held. All past leaders only paid lip service in this respect and their guarantees in this respect lacked conviction. Public property was abused to the hilt by the ruling party politicians with nary a care that they were doing so at the expense of the public purse. This is why the President reminded all that it was illegal to use Government property for election purposes. He also said that only the President, Prime Minister and Cabinet members would function in the Caretaker Government.
It has to be said that all parties, while in power, were guilty of election law violations, not just with public property but also other acts such as giving incentives to voters. There were instances galore where polling stations were stormed by goons and ballot boxes stuffed. The Wayamba Provincial Council election was a watershed where election law violations reached a new low.
President Sirisena also said he would be forced to take legal action against former MPs misusing Government vehicles and other public property during the election period. He would receive further public praise if he gave specific instructions to the law enforcement to bring to book any trouble makers, during the run up to the election and on polling day. We say this because the police generally tend to handle ruling party politicians and their supporters with kid gloves, not only during election times but on other occasions as well, as is only too well known.
The President's attitude is a clear indication that he is committed to ending this trend and holding a free and fair election. Hence, the instructions should not only be confined to dealing with those who abuse public property but also extend to general law and order during the polls campaign period.
During the last Presidential Election the then Elections Commissioner (now Elections Commission Chairman) acted commendably and received all round praise for his intrepidity for taking on the full might of the Government. He also received plaudits for overseeing the February 10 Local Government election without incident. The fact that a relatively new party won that election while the established parties took a beating shows how free and fair the poll was.
There is no reason to believe he will act any different this time around. It is time that the country adopts a new political culture where the people are free to exercise their franchise without any intimidation. All party leaders must rein in their more adventuress supporters. True, there could be clashes between rivals in a heated election campaign and certain incidents are unavoidable. But these should not be allowed to escalate and mar the entire electoral process.
There is also the need to nominate educated and honest candidates as we have been repeatedly advocating in these spaces. All political parties have an opportunity to do this at the election. This country could certainly do well by bringing into the electoral process the erudite, the professionals and scholars whose contributions will be invaluable for us as a nation.
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