Democracy triumphs
Democracy triumphed at the first ever Batticaloa Local
Government election in 14 years. Last Monday’s poll to elect 101 members
to nine local bodies, including the Batticaloa Municipal Council were
calm and peaceful. Compared to most elections since 1977, the LG polls
in the Batticaloa District were free of any major incidents.
The largest election monitoring body in Sri Lanka - PAFFREL also
confirmed that the election was free and fair without any major
incidents. PAFFREL deployed more than 300 monitors including 20 foreign
observers.
Almost all major political parties, except the United National Party,
which boycotted the election for reasons best known to them, said that
it was a peaceful election. Even the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC)
representatives, who complained of a couple of isolated minor incidents,
also confirmed that it was just and fair.
Unfortunately, a few opportunist UNP politicians, did not subscribe
to this view. Perhaps, they did not like to see democracy being
restored.
They did not see anything significant in eradicating Velupillai
Prabhakaran’s terror rule in the East and allowing people in the area to
get an opportunity to elect their own Local Government representatives.
While the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and a few of his
backbenchers such as Lakshman Kiriella protested against the outcome of
Monday’s election, UNP’s National Organiser and former Minister S.B.
Dissanayake was sincere and emblazoned the truth which may look bitter
for political opportunists and for those who are after power.
Dissanayake regretted that his party boycotted the elections. He said
that the UNP made “a big mistake” by not contesting the elections and
depriving their supporters a chance to vote.
There was a news report of a die-hard UNP supporter who was unaware
of the UNP’s boycott, who challenged polling booth officials for not
having the UNP’s elephant symbol on the ballot paper for him to cast his
vote.
The helpless election officials on duty unsuccessfully tried to
convince the exasperated UNP supporter who ultimately tore the ballot
into shreds. This is a mere example to show how foolish the UNP was in
taking this short-sighted move.
Why did the Government embark on humanitarian operations in Mavil Aru,
Sampur, Vakarei and Thoppigala? It was not merely to gain ground or any
other purpose but to grant true liberation to the people living in the
East. Eradicating terrorism from the Eastern Province does not
necessarily mean that all problems of the innocent civilians there would
be solved.
The Government is determined to offer ‘true liberation’ to innocent
Tamils living in the North too. President Mahinda Rajapaksa last week
underlined his determination to extend the democracy now being enjoyed
by the Eastern polity to the people of Killinochchi and Mullaithivu
Districts too in the near future.
Following last year’s triumphant military operations, the East no
longer has to be identified with the North and referred to as the
‘North-East’.
The Eastern masses no longer have to be under the Wanni terrorists.
They are now enjoying liberation in the true sense of the word and not
the type of liberation that Prabhakaran has been spinning to fool the
Tamil Diaspora and the international community.
As the President emphasised, we should never permit the Wanni
terrorists to dominate the people in the East. The Government has fully
liberated the East from the clutches of terrorism, paving the way for a
fair and free election.
Though the UNP leader makes a big noise over the Local Government
elections in the Batticaloa District, it was he who officially accepted
a ‘border’ between the LTTE-held areas and other parts of Sri Lanka.
When Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister, he signed the infamous
Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) under which the once popular reference of
Maaim Gammanna (Border Villages) came to light. This was because
Wickremesinghe officially accepted a territory controlled by the LTTE.
Winning democratic rights after 14 long years was a great achievement
for the people in Batticaloa. The Government now plans to hold the
Provincial Council elections to implement the decentralisation of power
introduced under the 13th Amendment.
The freedom enjoyed by the civil society to exercise their franchise
was amply demonstrated and that was of more importance than the results
and the victor. The Government restored their democratic rights,
replacing the gun culture which prevailed in the East. Nurturing and
protecting that freedom is of paramount importance.
The so-called human rights organisations were apparently never
concerned about the plight, sufferings and the rights of innocent
civilians in the North and East, but there were many who were profoundly
concerned about the human rights of the LTTE terrorists.
For some countries in the West, terrorists here are freedom fighters.
But they do not give the same definition when it comes to terrorism in
their own countries. People who show undue concern about an isolated
incident or two turn a blind eye on mass scale human rights’ violations
in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries. |