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| Sunday, 7 March 2004 |
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Elections: all about deliverance Brief by Lalith Edrisinha When LTTE Leader Velupillai Pirbhakaran claims that his outfit is the sole representative of the Tamil people and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidates have the backing of the Tigers then the syllogism that the Tamil people will in toto vote for the TNA gains credence. This would logically give them adequate clout to clamour to be deliverers of their people from the bondage that the Sinhala people have imposed on them. And that in turn appears to have given them the right to impel the Elections Commissioner to conduct elections in LTTE held areas where the writ of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) does not hold and where the ballot will be conducted entirely by LTTE cadres who do not have to conform to the rules and regulations of the GOSL. It does not need much sagacity to conclude that in the absence of polling agents of other political parties and GOSL law enforcement officers and Elections department staff the LTTE could ensure a result wholly complementary to their position that none other but they are the representatives of the Tamils when all TNA candidates are returned with perhaps a few token votes cast to others who have dared to contest the LTTE position where none of the major political parties are permitted to contest. Already a UNF candidate in Batticaloa which is not wholly claimed to be LTTE held territory has been gunned down - the first political murder in the run up to this election. We hope it is not a pointer to things to come. Whatever ludicrous claims to sole representation the Tigers assert for themselves this new feature of the LTTE backing a political party contesting parliamentary elections is in itself a salutary metamorphosis that one must take note of. This could be the beginning of the long road to the acceptance of democracy in those parts that have for over a decade and more known none other than a totalitarian set up from which hundreds of thousands have either escaped or bought their reprieve to live in the South or migrate to greener pastures. That most of those who fled the harsh conditions and repression in those parts acknowledge the LTTE has done much for them and their cause is another facet of this scenario. The consensus is that whatever privations the people were subjected to is a mere historical process that would in the future give way to a more tolerant set up when the Tigers have gained what they have set out to achieve, the prelude to which has been formulated and submitted in the form of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals. So this Election is all about Deliverance to the Tigers and to all those who look up to them for deliverance in the North. In the South, the Prime Minister has struck a similar note. His syllogism is that there is no specific reference to an understanding, secret or otherwise between the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the LTTE to negotiate peace so, the country is inexorably being dragged into the cauldron of a hot war. and he has offered himself as the deliverer from this impending catastrophe. He is confident that with a fresh mandate from the people he could take the LTTE at their word and restart negotiations based on the Memorandum of Understanding he signed with the LTTE supremo over two years ago although it has been in limbo for well-nigh an year now. This fear psychosis that the Prime Minister is attempting to build does not accord with the true situation. Despite negotiations being in limbo since April 2003 and the Ministry of Defence now quite rightly and constitutionally being under the President since November 2003 neither the GOSL nor the LTTE has made any move of aggression that would precipitate a war. At a time when the LTTE is making a bid to enter Parliament even by proxy it is unthinkable that they would in any way attempt to give credence to the Prime Minister's position. The people in the South are not going to bite that bait when the priorities have been worked out to rid society of social evils such as corruption that has given rise to an unprecedented rise in the cost of living and a severe unemployment problem that threaten to rent the social fabric as witnessed in the spate of strikes and work stoppages leading up to death fasts just prior to the dissolution of Parliament. The UPFA has set itself up and is campaigning on the basis that they will deliver the country from the brink of disaster that the UNF government chartered it to. It is giving a violence free campaign top priority. If that holds the credibility and capability of the UPFA at governance will be enhanced. There is wide acceptance that wheeler dealers will be brought to book. The UNF's performance in the economic front where a zero balance of payments scenario inherited by it in 2001 has been converted to the plus side has now been explained away that any country that had to meet some very high unprecedented defence expenditure such as when the LTTE were at the gates of Jaffna and very expensive war materials had to be rushed to avert a disastrous situation at whatever the price, any country's budget could go haywire. And that was what happened compounded by the LTTE attack on the Katunayake Airport when prohibitive insurance rates were the norm and big business was so threatened that the tycoons came out in their neckties and shimmering sarees to the streets to hold hands and call for Love and Understanding to save the country from a grave situation. There, we are. Will the voter be fooled by the fear psychosis that the UNF is building up as a defence mechanism to the fears they have of the repercussions of a UPFA victory? Will the UPFA be able to blunt the attempts of the big spenders who are going all out to safeguard their seats but not thinking in terms of forming the next government? All reports indicate that the Freedom Alliance is ahead and if the momentum is maintained these four weeks some will be delivered to the law enforcement authorities for the blatant violations of tender and other procedures that have to be adhered to in Cabinet government. So, in whatever way one surveys the scene there will be deliverance and the Elections of April 2004 is all about deliverance of some sort to every segment of society, irrespective of whatever coloration they belong. |
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