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| Sunday, 28 March 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Elections 2004 : More surveillance, less violence By Kaminie Jayanthi Liyanage The election frenzy has begun. Local and international monitors have already begun mobilising while nearly 10,600 polling booths are being put up in the country along with cluster polling booths in the North and the East.
There are no restrictions to prevent any individuals or organisations from observing the election process, according to K. Senanayake, Assistant Commissioner of Elections, Department of Elections. "Even a voter can be an observer, but observers other than People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) and Centre for Monitoring (CMEV) cannot come within a half-a-kilometer radius from a polling booth." Eight local observer NGOs have been approved by the Commissioner of Elections, with only PAFFREL and CMEV being allowed entry into the polling booths. There are several other registered and unregistered organisations observing the elections. Among the international observers a prominent arrival is that of Margaret Reid, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group. She was formerly the Chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and President of the Australian Senate. Another significant visitor is John Cushnahan who is Chief Observer of European Union Election Observation Mission. Amidst the clamour for reduced election violence, the Sunday Observer asked some of the election monitoring team representatives whether the Sri Lankan voters could hope to cast their vote in a free and fair election. Kingsley Rodrigo, Chairman, People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL): PAFFREL is the only organisation in the country which can be deployed in all the polling stations, other than the cluster polling booths of the North and the East. We are also bringing in 100 international observers. In comparison to the last two general elections, this time the violence is less. The Elections Commissioner and Police are doing their job properly. According to the police reports, 600-odd complaints of election-related violence have been received at 400 police stations of the country. This time, the IGP has taken special measures. Previously, there was only one Police Secretariat attached to the Police Headquarters to look into all the election related violence and other matters. This time there are three. Other than that, under DIG Jayantha Wickremaratne, there is a special unit to look into the criminal activities which is a very effective one. Under DIG Mahinda Balasuriya, a unit is establsihed to collect the information as early as possible. Within one hour, any information from any police station can be collected. You cannot see many posters and cutouts and any other polythene decorations in the country now because they are removed early the very next day. The categories of abuses we have recorded are murders, attempted murders, arson and minor incidents. Compared to the 65 murders during last general elections, this time there are only three - one allegedly by the LTTE and the other, in clashes between Muslim groups. The number of attempted murders is less, with a few complaints on carrying weapons. All the rest are minor complaints. I cannot understand why EPDP has asked us not to deploy Tamil monitors in the North but we are sending there as many international observers as possible. As we state in our press release of March 20, 2004, to facilitate voting by people in the LTTE- controlled areas, the LTTE has offered to move back their forward defence lines 500 metres or more, and to permit their checkpoints to be used as polling stations. In discussions with PAFFEREL, the LTTE also agreed to permit members of the Sri Lanka Police with weapons to come into their checkpoint areas, from which the LTTE would have temporarily withdrawn, to guard the polling stations as required by law. Also, the Sri Lanka Army pledged not to hinder voters crossing over from the LTTE-controlled areas to the clustered polling stations that are within the government-controlled areas. The East is not that problematic and Karuna is in favour of elections. According to the MOU, armed Police will not be able to protect the ballot boxes and the Elections Commissioner will take a decision on this within a few days. I do not know how the figure of Rs. 85 million in foreign aid for election monitoring was arrived at. We have got Rs. 13.5 M up to now, from the embassies of Japan, Norway and Britain, and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). For each international observer, we require Rs.150,000 for air fare and other expenses. Another Rs. 5 M will be spent on our media campaign and Rs.3 M is required for the election day meal expenses of 20,000 local observers. Dr. Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, Co-convenor, Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) and Executive Director, Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA): In comparison to the 2001 general elections, this election is markedly less violent. At a comparable time in the 2001 elections, when one would have had about 50 per cent or more of incidents of a fairly serious and grave nature, this time, the figure is about 30 per cent. Possible reasons for this could be the Elections Commissioner's consequent 17th amendment to the Constitution which has new powers that are being exercised, and the independent Police Commission under this amendment. Also, it could be that people do not have money to spend in pasting posters. Still there is expectation of violence in certain areas which have been historically prone to violence. For Eg. threats, intimidations, assault and grievous hurt. CMEV concentrates its monitors in the areas which are more likely to be prone to violence or malpractices. Up to the last survey, 279 major incidents have been recorded in the districts of Puttlam, Digamadulla, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Gampaha, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy and Ratnapura. CPA has a media unit and we have a serious problem with media in terms of partisan affiliations. The only justification of controlling and owning media is to be in the public interest and not on behalf of political parties. There are serious problems in the North and the East in context of threats, intimidation, of candidates being killed, or having to withdraw. The whole idea of elections is one in which the voter has access to competing political parties, literature and propaganda to make a choice and in that sense, it is deeply flawed. The other dimension is the access of people in the LTTE-controlled areas to polling booths and the actual exercise of franchise on elections day. This does not conform to the standards of free and fair elections and probably demands a different set of standards. Election monitoring funding is received on the basis of a proposal and a budget and there is no room to engage in any kind of financial irregularity. When it comes to transparency and accountability, it is ironic that political parties demand it of other organisations but have you ever seen the accounts of a single political party? M. M. Zuhair, President's Council & Convenor, Freedom Polls Watch: Conduct of the polls in this election is much better. I have been travelling all over the island and I found the decorations and posters much reduced. According to police reports, the total number of instances of violence too has come down and it is a healthy improvement from our past performance. One reason could be that we had too many elections and people were tired of them. We have been preoccupied as a nation with ethnic consciousness and while it is important that communities have their own identities, these need not be guiding lines for political purposes. It is very difficult for a party to come out in a healthy way because the ethnic consciousness of everybody is very high now. I hope these elections will not be guided by those factors. This is an unsatisfactory state of affairs and there is a great obligation on the major national parties to get together and resolve the country's problems as fast as they could and get across nation building. The breakaway of Karuna will have an impact on the elections but that matter is for Tamil people to solve among them. The latest we hear is that he has positively asserted that he will open the doors to all other parties to campaign. Last time, we found there were 14 entry points from the LTTE-controlled areas to the government-controlled areas, which could pass only 300 voters in the process of clearance. We would welcome any effort to permit these people to cast their vote. Amarananda Weerasinghe, Secretary, National Election Monitoring and Evaluation Centre (NEMEC): NEMEC began functioning on February 19. While other monitoring bodies engage only in monitoring and furnishing reports to the donors, NEMEC, comprising of scholars and intellectuals such as retired Supreme Court Judges, with a National Executive Council, District and Electoral Co-ordinators, tries to find solutions to eradicate violence. But we are not monitoring in the North and the East as we have very little resources. Compared to the previous elections, there seems to be a decrease of election violence and malpractices in the current elections, which is a good sign. We have todate received 426 complaints, from which 340 are criminal offences and the rest, civil offences. Nuwara Eliya and Matara districts have recorded relatively more election violence, compared to the other districts. In areas like Hanguranketha, reported violence is reflective of its election culture. Politicans can change this culture, for they are the ones who can control this violence. We are also concerned about the misappropriation of government vehicles for election campaigning. Incidents of this nature have been reported from all the districts, which shows that we need to have firm regulations for prevention. Another concern is why only two out of eight monitoring organisations registered under the Commissioner of Elections were chosen for US funding and what criteria was used for that. I feel that funding from donor countries must come through the government and the Commissioner of Elections. As now, the Auditor-General Department has no authority to look into such matters and money which can be used for good purposes, can also be used to create election violence. Lionel Gulawita, Secretary, Diriya Foundation: Compared to the previous elections, the pre-election situation is somewhat less violent. Our pre-election team visited Kandy, Matale, from Kalutara to Kataragama including Tangalle, Walasmulla, Okewela, Weeraketiya, Katuwana, Matugama, Horana and Colombo and found that people are generally less demonstrative today while agitation and frenzy is manifestly generating more from the candidates. Charges and counter charges, revelation of each other's political plots and designs, true or otherwise, are on the increase. According to platform propaganda, serious confrontations and animosities are being built up. Code of conduct at this juncture would be useless as we have come to the last stage of election campaign. Police now being under the Commissioner of Elections is creditable. Reduction of violence we consider is due mostly to police functioning under the Elections Commissioner. The upcoming General Elections could go into history as being unique in its characteristics and of most competitive in the country. All leaders and candidates should realize that after the Elections Day, they all have to accept the verdict and work ahead together to upgrade the living standards of people. Queries on elections Queries on elections can be addessed to the Returning Officers at the Kachcheris, the Commissioner of Elections, PAFFREL or CMEV while complaints of a criminal nature can be made to the Elections Secretariat set up at Police Head Quarters on Tel. 2387999, 2543811, (Gen.) 2421111 ext.291/391, fax.2327706; DIG (Elections)-Tel.2423946/47, Fax.2430938. Those who have not received polling cards can vote only if their names are in the electoral register. |
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