New selection mechanisms in the offing:

Moving towards a new political culture

by a reporter

A number of political parties, including Sri Lanka's two main political groups, accepted common criteria for selecting candidates, proposed by the Peoples' Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), at a special event held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) on 12 March.

Political leaders endorsed the March12 Declaration at a launch event titled 'Towards a Positive Political Culture' meeting at the BMICH Pic Thushara Fernando

According to PAFFREL's Executive Director, Rohana Hettiarachchi, it was expected that all political parties would accept the criteria as part of their own candidate selection mechanisms and contribute to the creation of a new political culture that prevents unsuitable persons from entering politics at the very outset.

"We hope it becomes a party practice and all parties take steps to weed out undesirable elements from entering politics, using the absence of selection criteria, to gain party membership," he said. At the event, the March12 Declaration, a document containing various selection criteria for candidates was publicly released, and endorsed by leaders of various political parties.

"The idea was to create a roadblock for unsuitable persons from seeking public office. In a way, it will work as a score card for candidates as well. By engaging political parties ahead of elections and getting their commitment in this manner, we took the first step towards the creation of a political culture," Hettiarachchi said.

The March 12 Declaration was first signed by Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, both as the country's prime minister and the leader of the United National party (UNP), followed by Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva , representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party(SLFP).

Many other political parties also endorsed the Declaration, the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, including the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna JVP), Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and several others. In a few years, Sri Lanka must move towards a new political culture. Decency has to be restored and people's trust in their representatives needs to be restored, and that can be achieved only through the introduction of mechanisms and improving on them as a constant process, Hettiarachchi noted.

Essential common criteria

* Should not be a person who had served a jail sentence for a crime or a person who has received a suspended sentence.

* Should not be a person who had been proven guilty of bribery or corruption and should be acceptable to society and a person of good character. Be cautious when considering those alleged of bribery or corruption.

* Should not be a person who is engaging or had engaged in the past in trades such as alcohol, drugs, gambling, casinos and prostitution that are detrimental to the wellbeing of the country.

* Should not be a person who is engaging or had engaged in trade which destroys the ecological life support system that causes destruction to the environment.

* Should not be a person who has abused and misused political power.

* Should not be a person who had entered into financial agreements prejudicial to the country before becoming a peoples’ representative and as a peoples’ representative, who has abused power and entered into financial agreements with the government or has been a party to such an agreement.

* Candidate should be either a resident or have an amiable relationship with the residents of the area they represent.

* Should provide adequate opportunities for representation of women and youth when nominating candidates.