From here to nowhere and to an ‘Ahmadinejadian’ end?
Repost This Article“We vote to get president. We get president. But where our vote, we don’t know” was a line that I had saved from a news report on the Iranian presidential polls in June 2009. What ever the man on a Teheran street wanted conveyed, it meant the presidential election results and their voting had no compatibility.
What will it be here after 2010 January 26 presidential elections ? The election campaign here in SL is now “officially” over. Yet, there is campaigning going on. What would the result be ? Will it be “we get president. But where’s our vote” story ? Just 02 days more for the polls, what could the answer be ? Those who said, “it could be either way” a fortnight ago, now prefer to say, one with the “bigger muscle power” could be the winner.
Will it be ? We have local election monitors churning out daily reports. There are foreign election monitors in town too. They talk of being neutral and say the same thing that we were told many times before, by international, Commonwealth and European Union observers who were here for previous elections. We may even have extensively documented reports thereafter. We have had such comprehensive reports before too. But no monitoring had been able to make elections any fairer and free. Made them less violent than what the contending parties and the government wanted them to be.
Therefore, despite these monitoring, the trend seems clear. Local election monitoring agencies have recorded too many violent incidents and abuse of State power to suspect an imminent outbreak of violence on election day and after. The most recent violent attacks with 04 deaths and grenades thrown, heavy abuse of State media, resources and power, show a chilling trend on election day and possibly after.
There were very meek and weak calls against violence by candidates and political leaders a day or two ago. But nothing serious and nothing substantial to date to seriously and firmly clamp down violence. None in the campaign has condemned these attacks and violence in a forthright manner, for the people to have faith in their condemnations and to expect a free and fair election.
Certainly, both leading campaigns have contributed for all these violence. There are many reasons for such dirty and violent decline at elections this time. This election is being fought by two, who are Sinhala political twins, both claiming glory for a brutal war against the Tamil Tigers that left 03 whole districts totally uprooted and 300,000 civilians behind barbed wire camps as IDPs. Its the same Sinhala political platform, with the same loud group that promised almost the same things 04 years ago from a “blue – red” platform that is now promised from a “green – red” platform with shifted loyalties.
Beyond the war claims, they could only throw out promises that would have nothing once the elections are over. Promises that have no relevance to any of the major issues this country is facing. There is no answer to the question of how the now divided and wounded society would be healed and reconciled. How the State would be reformed and democratised for a plural society to live in dignity. There is no answer as to how the economy would be salvaged and society developed to absorb youth with an economically viable, quality life.
How have they then made the difference to attract votes ? That came with personal comparisons. With condemning the opponent. Thus we saw an election that offered no sane answers to the issues that needs to be solved, but one that took more and more personal and private issues, some clustered as “corruption”, some as “betrayals” and some as “incompetence” in governance. All efforts, in packaging personal and private issues in political dressing.
This campaign with no serious politics has thus led to violence in forcing the voter to decide the way the Candidates want. That needs a show of power. This society has always preferred politicians with a “muscle”. It has always been the rough and the ruffian who bags the larger bag of preferential votes in any list. The educated and the disciplined in any list, has always been left far down in preferential voting.
That seems the social psyche which decides winners. It accommodates “force” instead of “principles”. Its the “predator” politician and not the “principled” politician who commands demand among most voters in this society. At least in the Sinhala society. Campaigning at this election has further hardened that psyche.
In such an irresponsible, short sighted society, the Election Commissioner is expected by the international community and other local and foreign “rights” groups to deliver a well conducted, free and fair election, without any support from law enforcement agencies, the State media and without the authority of political respect to conduct such an election.
Robbed of the decent independent environment that could have been there with the implementation of the 17th Amendment, he is being reduced to a person who could only print and distribute polling cards, organise polling booths and then count the vote, for mobs to go on a wild frenzy of targeting opponents.
This election for the first time in our history is talked about as one that has splits in law enforcement agencies and the security forces. Minus the Constitutional Council and its independent commissions, political appointments have created divided loyalties in State organisations. Will they take orders from the incumbent, who is also a candidate ?
There seem very little space for a free and fair election, despite monitors going round to report on the conduct of the elections. The ground is laid out cold for the stronger of the two in mobilising violence, either to force a result or to resist such violence, not to win but to “grab” the election.
This leads to a post election scenario with an unfortunate violent result. If the muscle power and abuse of State resources by the ruling party goes beyond the tolerant point of changing the final outcome of the election, it would be the Election Commissioner who would be in a dilemma in announcing his decision. Withholding results for re-polling or declaring results with many dozens of ballot boxes removed as tampered or stuffed, would not be passively accepted this time, as in the 1988 December presidential elections.
Then in 1988, with JVP the insurgency terrorising the rural areas denying free and fair polling, representatives of candidates R. Premadasa and Madam Bandaranayake signed and accepted the final result despite removing 47 ballot boxes. This election is different. It is so heated and is being heated, the Election Commissioner is caught in a “catch 22” situation. No candidate would put their signature to accept such a result, this time. They can not afford to. For neither of the two can go back home as an honourably “defeated” candidate.
It would thus be their supporters who would stay on the streets, demanding their vote be given due respect.
In Teheran, [quote]amid ensuing violence, Ahmadinejad remained adamant that the election was free and democratic. “Almost 40 million people attended the free election and passed a huge democratic test in front of the whole world and chose the path of awakening, pride and dignity,” he said in a televised speech after the results were declared.[unquote – 14 June, 2009 / IANS]
What could be the crowning speech of the winning candidate here ?
Kusal Perera
thanks kusal for a very un-biased well written piece.
this is so because of the winner takes all nature of democracy in SL.
DO NOT WORRY THIS TIME THE VOTE WOULD BE DECISIVE VETO TO THE CORRUPT RAJAPAKSE REGIME AND IT WOULD NOT WORRY THE ELECTION COMMISSIONER TO DECLARE GENERAL SARATH FONSEKA AS THE CLEAR WINNER ON THE 26TH JANUARY,2010.
Iran’s election was flawed. Sri Lanka’s election was marred by violence and flawed since the eighties.
But today we are facing a different kind of elections. Elections in the aftermath of a bloody end to the LTTE’s call for separatism which spared no human sentiments and which cost the citizens so much misery.
The end of the war did not bring in peace but rather the most virulent form of post-war violence, corruption, and nepotism by the incumbent president who preyed on his elusive victory to entrench his whole family in the cabinet and started a joyride of squandering public funds much to the chagrin of the common citizen.
Do we really need to put up with this megalomaniac. Do we need to put up with his scant regard for human rights.
Unless we vote him out by exercising our voting right we would be complicit in bringing down the democracy which is on its last knees.
Let us vote for change. If Tamils voted at least we would have tried to bring back peace to this island of ours marred by the evils Rajapakse unleashed.
I have long been searching for a decent, unbiased, and well pondered blog about the political situation in SL. It wasn’t easy but it looks like I finally found it!
I was in SL last September and could already tell the campaign was going to be nasty, but it seems to have escalated even more than what I expected.
Very nice post, keep up the good work.
Hi Pearl,
your comment seemed very emotional. I don’t have any issue wit that. Yet we read the situ here quite different to you, who is too far away from the ground situ. As for me, there is not much to choose between the two, for the present and the future.
If you read the 2 manifestos, the Mahinda Chintanaya of 2005 and Gen SF’s 2010 Believable Change, there’s isn’t any difference.
Both were written by the same political combine – JVP and Mangala combine. Then the MR-SLFP prayed they could sell it to come to power and succeeded. Now RW-UNP pray they could come to power on this newly labelled old arrack.
As for corruption and nepotism, JVP voted with every MR budget and the extension of Emergency and thus nurtured this corrupt and arrogant government in every way. Do they have any moral right to talk of corruption after voting at all budgets that allocated money for Mihin Air, for the Mega cabinet and for all taxes that kept fuel and consumer prices so high ?
Would you expect any change for democracy with this political alliance that changed positions not on principles, but for petty, power hungry politics ?
We have a long way to go after we messed up for 60 plus years. We have to work towards a new political perspective and a new pluralistic culture. I would not expect that change to happen in this election and from these petty politicos and their military hero who have no sincere vision for the future.
I have decided to let go this election and wouldn’t mind any of the culprits of war taking the presidential election for now. I prefer to see beyond this presidential election for solutions and that we have to strive towards.
Thanks for your comments Pearl, and lets keep the dialogue going
Kusal
I am with you. SF is just going to be repeat act. I too will give this election a miss. I am hoping I can press the fast forward button another 6 years. I think two terms of this whether it be one from MR and one from SF or two from MR, will make no difference. The people will be tired of the old act. I just hope that the parties can just stay independent and don’t sell out.
The single solution to free our people from the shackles of corruption, is a benign dictator to emerge: in the manner the Singopore boom was spearheaded, under the now senior mentor, Lee Kuan Yu.
Being that Mahinda has shown his propensity for treating our country as his private domain… I’d go with the “unknown devil”, Sarath – and hope that his military discipline will grapple normal corrupt tendencies to it’s burial grounds – forever and a day!
We need to dream. No, We need to believe that good can overcome evil.
Go Sarath. Challenge yourself. Should the people give you the mandate.
Maybe you have some hope, Mahinda, should you pull through. Reform.
Kusal,
Excellent article. keep up tehe good work. There is very little difference between the two candidates. They are both Sinhala racists in different guises. They have not even spelt out their economic polices leave alone reconciliation which is the need of the hour. The main issues facing the country have not been touched on by the two main candidates. The Executive Presidency will never be abolished and I am sure the intelligent voter knows that.
I am a Sinhalese and I did vote this morning. I voted for two candidates who I know will not get elected. The two main candidates I feel do not deserve to run this country going by their track records.
“…The single solution to free our people from the shackles of corruption, is a benign dictator to emerge: in the manner the Singopore boom was spearheaded, under the now senior mentor, Lee Kuan Yu….”
Yes, it is true. He (Lee Kuan Yu) built his country based on “Fairness”.
Why should every one else be honest and hard working while the one at top is unfair, corrupt, immoral etc..?
One who leads the country should be a role model.
However, in the long run, we should change the structure of this political system so that it will promote competition at grass root level.
I dont think if SF elected, is he too going to be like MR. Today after listening to his discussions telecasted on the 23 th in lanken TV, I feel he could do what he thinks is better for thecountry as any other leader could do. He is not bound to any party, since he is still apolitical. He is very strict with his policies saying that he should be an example to others so that the ministers could also follow him. That is the most important fact if any leader wants to go against abuses of all form of a state. He openl says if anyonewho would go against the principles, there he will need to even go against them. That is very correct. He sounded very honest.
See, he himself reiterates when Ltter leader was killed and all the realities related to war end. Those who including myself being away from the country who only listened to the talks of governing party, until today, thought Army commander was away from the country at thetime, LTTE leader was killed. Truth story, even evidences related to them could be forwarded as proving materials, as it is, he had travelled to china for a purchase and the related check. His explanations were very honest to anyone who listened to the video. I wonder why all those crossed over UNP supporters sitting around to MR spread wrong stories. All these could come to light if the real evidences are there. I am sure, many including myself was caught by sorta of false speeches carried out by governing party. But I read a bit in every report so that I can get a neutral view, that is why I thought to listen to videos of youtube. Srilanken style is … even if you dont agree with any sorta of false propaganada, just because many other follow it, u also need to remain further silence. This has now created a misery in the country.