A thankless job:

Elections Commissioner - a puppet to some, a dictator to others

By Manjula Fernando

Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said that he has been castigated by the UPFA candidates and the Opposition for carrying out his duty to ensure free and fair elections.

“For some, I am a puppet, and for others a dictator. The very reason I receive flak from the Opposition and the Government shows that I have been impartial and that is what I want to be.”

The Sunday Observer met the Elections Commissioner on the sidelines of one of the series of media briefings last week. The fiercely fought Western and Southern Provincial Council elections are due to be held on March 29.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: Are you satisfied with the way the postal voting was conducted and of the voter turn out?

A: More than 90 percent have cast their postal vote. This is a very good response. The actual figures can be released after the 25th. The independent polls observers have reported a peaceful vote.

Q: People don't seem to be enthusiastic about the forthcoming election. Are the Sri Lankan masses getting increasingly bored with elections and can there be a particular reason for that?

Usually, at provincial councils elections, there is a low voter turn out. That has been the trend in the past elections. There is heightened interest among people in Presidential, parliamentary and local government polls but provincial council polls command less interest, may be because people think the provincial council election will not make changes that are important to them.

However, increased enthusiasm among voters have been observed this time. It can perhaps be attributed to the interest the Government has shown in drawing people's attention to the up coming election.

Q: There are allegations that you are not doing enough to stop election law violations and deal with those who break the law to ensure a free and fair election. Your comment?

We are in the process of taking action and the action that we have already taken is on record. The action we have taken can be revealed once the election is over and not before that because it can have a bearing on the outcome.

We have arrested a state vehicle that was used for election purposes and I have written to the President's office with regard to telecasting programs like Janapathi jana hamuwa and they have accepted my position that such things must not coincide with elections.

There are allegations against me from the government side as well as the opposition and that speaks for itself. While the opposition claim that I am just a voice without action, the government representatives say I am exceeding my powers.

I try to remain neutral and execute whatever the powers I have. The Elections Department can point out when the law is broken but political parties and candidates carry the biggest responsibility to ensure an election is conducted fairly and peacefully. Without their cooperation me and my staff can do very little.

Q: Can you comment on the behaviour of private and state media during this election phase. Why only the state media have to abide by the rules?

I believe the law must be applied to both private and state media. It is not fair to call on only the state media to abide by the election law and do a fair coverage of candidates of all political parties and independent groups contesting in the election. There are certain private media which support the opposition parties exclusively. In my opinion everyone should abide by the law.

Besides I am not empowered to issue orders to the media. I can only issue a code of conduct or remind you the ethics. The media must adhere to the election law and ensure their programs will not be in breach of the law.

Q: You have said the political parties themselves must take action through the Parliament to stop development projects being timed during elections (by amending the existing law) since the Elections commissioner has no powers to do that. Could you elaborate on this comment?

I do not feel ‘mega’ development projects should be delayed during election period. That is not what I said. But it is wrong if the event is turned into an election propaganda campaign. I know very well that President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not make any reference to election in his recent speech at Kilinochchi. We had election department offices to monitor the event. Only national flags adorned this meeting.

Moreover, after the 18th amendment the Election Commissioner has no powers to intervene in such matters. The Indian Elections Commissioner has such wider powers. However, I don't believe development projects need to be deferred during small and scattered elections like local government or provincial council since the impact will not be that heavy.

Q:Any new measures taken to ensure a free and fair poll conduct on March 29?

The ban of posters and cut outs in public places is one such measure. Use of wide screens and TVs at public places have been banned. Display of posters in temples is banned. If the candidate is a Buddhist there his campaign should confine to an office. Having realized the misuse of technology, we have asked the Telecom Regulatory Commission to block organized sms campaigns and telephone calls.

Some of the candidates are very creative but our officers are alert to creative methods of canvassing as well. We have banned posters and stickers displaying preferential numbers on public transport, private busses as well as three wheelers. I have requested the police to remove all such material before the election day.

With the measures taken so far including to allow party representatives to accompany the ballot boxes to counting centres and be present when the counting of votes are done, etc we have successfully cleared misconceptions and responded to allegations of ballot stuffing, ‘computer gilmart’ and possibility of swapping of ballot boxes.

Q: Will you be introducing electronic voting and counting anytime soon? Last time there was an issue with the discovery of an unaccounted bag of ballot papers during the North Western PC election.

We are for electronic voting and counting. With the current system of using hand marked ballot papers, we cannot have electronic counting. But with electronic voting, that can be done. It can save a lot of money and time. In India they say if electronic voting is introduced, they could save as many as a forest cover of an entire district, if they could stop printing ballot papers and manufacture wooden ballot boxes for just one national election.

Electronic voting should not be confused as internet voting. There can be a lot of malpractices involving internet voting but electronic voting is safe and different.

Q: Who are the local election monitors permitted to get involved in monitoring the poll? Have you invited any international observers ?

Only the PAFFREL will be allowed to be inside the poll stations. This time the CMEV has not so far expressed desire to get involved in monitoring two provincial council the elections. There are six other bodies who have been permitted to monitor the forthcoming election but they will not be permitted to go inside polling stations.

They are CaFFE, National Polls Observing Centre (NPOC), Mothers and Daughters of Lanka (MDL), Net for Election Monitors (NEM), Movement for Free and Fair Election (MFFE) and Lanka Polls Watch (LPW).

No foreign body will be involved in polls monitoring at the forthcoming election. It is not the practice to invite foreign observers for mini polls. The Northern PC council was an exception.

Q: Do you think, compared to last Southern and Western provincial council elections, this time the run up to poll has been relatively peaceful?

Going by the media reports one may get the feeling that the Western and Southern provincial polls this year are marred by violence. There is a reason for that. The media and the polls observer groups are concentrated in the Western and also Southern province. As a result even the minuscule incident gets highlighted. So I am not surprised if people feel that the pre-election period had been violent.

But the figures tell us a different story. The reason for this positive development is that we have conducted a vigorous campaign to train candidates and party leaders on election law and violence free campaigns. We created awareness and taught them on how to behave during an election period and avoid clashes. We convinced them of the futility of resorting to violence. After the election the life needs to go on.

We conducted classes for candidates and members of political parties contesting in the election. We had such classes in Galle, Hambantota, Kalutara, Gampaha and Colombo. We focused on the opposition parties mainly. The governing UPFA representatives often meet me to get updates on the election at least twice a week. They keep a close contact as to what they should pass on to their candidates.

Q: The first election related death was reported recently in Dompe. Your comments?

It was a very unfortunate incident. This was something that could have been prevented. I have been informed that the victim, too, was after liquor when it happened. He had been pasting posters, other group had protested when he tried to paste over the posters of a different candidate. An argument had ensued resulting in the other man punching a blow on his face. He had suffered a nasty fall hitting his head on the ground. This is what I have been informed but we cannot come to conclusions until the investigations are over.

It is a political murder and nothing can justify it. Such things need to be avoided at any cost.

Q: Do you think the leaders of major political parties like UPFA, UNP, JVP, SLMC and DP have done enough to discipline their candidates?

Leaders are making an effort to some extent but results are highly unsatisfactory. Candidates of most parties have resorted to illegal means of campaign. Many have disfigured highways with their names, numbers and symbols. I would not blame just one or two party, but candidates from almost all the parties are breaking the law. One of the main opposition parties have so far been very cooperative and law abiding. Since I have to remain independent I am not allowed to say which party that is. The Party leaders must make their candidates aware of the rules. They are more or less aware of certain laws, such as that they cannot display posters or cut outs in places other than the campaign office, they know the rules with regard to rallies and the laws which prevent them using more than one vehicle to display their preferential numbers. These are the positive developments.

But still I am not satisfied with their behaviour. Most of the clashes are linked to pasting posters and rallies, usually when there are drunk supporters among the groups. The candidates and party leaders must look into this area more seriously.

The Election Department issued strict orders not to use state vehicles for campaign activities and we are watching if this is being broken. One such vehicle have already been seized by election officials.

Q: Have you received a satisfactory response to the decree on declaring assets by the PC poll candidates this time ?

The response had been far better than satisfactory, it is very encouraging. Almost all the candidates from the major parties have declared their assets but I am unable to release them to the media at this point. All UPFA , UNP and JVP candidates are included in this list. This is the highest response ever. Until the election day they can declare their assets and after that we will put in place a procedure to grant access to this information for those who have valid reasons. An application may have to be submitted through a court of law or similar body by those seeking access.

Q: When do you plan to announce the first result?

Our target is to release the first postal result by 8.00 pm. At 4.15 pm, immediately after the close of election we will begin counting the postal votes. The counting of other votes will start at 6.00 pm. The first electorate result will be issued between 10.00 pm and 11.00 pm. We will be deploying 50,000 election officers for polling station duty and over 25,000 at counting centres.

A total of 8,500 strong police force will provide protection to polling stations, another 2,500 will be on patrol duty in addition to a team of 1,500 riot police on stand by to face any emergency.

Further 3,500 policemen will be deployed in counting centres. We may call in the STF if violence is reported but the Armed forces will not be deployed in the election.