As campaigning for the upcoming Western Provincial polls enters home stretch, incidence of election-related violence that includes assault, intimidation, threats, attempted assassinations and damage to private property continue to mount at an alarming rate and the authorities have done little or nothing to arrest this trend.
As usual, it is the parties in the opposition which are at the receiving end. As candidates and supporters of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) come under attack, independent observers fear the worse in the days ahead.
Keerthi Tennakoon, a spokesperson for the independent polls monitor Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), said that if the present trend was allowed to go unchecked by authorities, then it would perhaps lead to a free-for-all situation.
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| A Colombo district JVP office that came under attack |
“Should that happen, then the picture could even border chaos with thugs cheered on by their political handlers making their day,” he said.
Mr. Tennakoon said that they witnessed such a trend at the August 2008 North Central Province (NCP) polls where the opposition took on the ruling party supporters in tit-for-tat clashes.
“It seems this trend is already in. This week a group of UNP activists are alleged to have attacked a UPFA office in retaliation. So the writing is on the wall,” he said urging the authorities to take prompt action.
Mr. Tenakoon’s CaFFE has already recorded some 27 incidents that include assaults, threats, intimidation, damage to party offices and attempted assassinations.
“In most cases the police had failed to act in a responsible manner,” Mr. Tenakoon charged.
According to CaFFE, complaints are coming from all the three districts – Colombo, Kalutara and Gampaha – that make up the Western Province with the Kalutara district where JVP has taken the brunt of the attack leading the list.
The People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) echoed similar concerns.
Its Director Kingsley Rodrigo said that this time around, most of the complaints were about attacks on party offices rather than on individuals.
He said the trend did not augur well for the elections and urged the authorities to crack down on troublemakers before the situation deteriorated into a full blown crisis.
Mr. Rodrigo said he found the role of the police wanting and called on them to enforce the law strictly, irrespective of the culprits’ party affiliations.
He said party leaders could also play a key role in ensuring a violence-free polls campaign by disciplining their supporters.
Mr. Rodrigo said he believed that only a small section of the party supporters were creating trouble and resorting to violence, which some time took the form of clashes between supporters of the same party fighting for preference votes.
Though Mr. Rodrigo did not name names, the JVP did not hesitate to point the finger at the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, JVP member from the Kalutara district, accused UPFA activists of misusing everything from state vehicles, officials, buildings, schools to temples and churches.
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| Roger Senaviratne |
Sujeewa Senasinghe |
M. Muzammil |
Nalinda Jayatissa |
The misuse of state property and officials was blatantly done with the police reduced to mere spectators, he said. “It appears that they want only the UPFA to do campaign work while others should stay dumb or pack up and go home. On one occasion, police officers even apologised in private... This is the frightening state of affairs. We have a kept police which can do very little to stop the violence,” Dr. Jayatissa said.
The JVP’s Colombo District main candidate Dumindu Mahagamuwa said the UPFA was getting jittery at the upcoming poll because it was becoming difficult to sell the war to the voters. “The Western Province is different from other provinces, because the people here are politically more mature and therefore they cannot be fooled. Besides, the province has a large middle class population which is reeling under the burden of the cost of living.
“Trying to sell the war stories this time is bound to back fire. After all, the LTTE is nearly finished and now the government is bankrupt for fresh ideas. Therefore, it comes as no surprise when the ruling party tilts towards violence,” Mr. Mahagamuwa said.
He also alleged that the UPFA was also making political capital out of the sacrifices made by the armed forces, He said it was disgusting to see posters and cutouts where politicos were seen together with soldiers at the warfront.
“This is an insult to those brave men and women who are fighting to save the country from a feared terrorist organisation. We have taken these matters up with the relevant authorities but to no avail,” he said.
The UNP was also equally indignant, especially in the wake of last week’s shooting incident at Kaduwela – the worst incident so far. Unidentified gunmen opened fire on the residence of a young UNP hopeful, Sujeewa Senasinghe, who escaped unhurt.
Lawyer and UNP frontline candidate, Senasinghe told The Sunday Times that the attackers had sprayed his front lawn with automatic fire but fortunately no one was hurt.
“This is an unprovoked act of aggression. I have no serious enemies, politically or otherwise. However what is even more disturbing is the absolute indifference shown by the local police into the incident,” he charged.
“Immediately after the shooting I contacted Inspector Anil Perera of the Athurugiriya police to inform him on what had taken place. To my utter shock and dismay, he muttered something in his sleep and told me not to take matters seriously since the attacker or attackers were also from the same village,” he said. “Owa gannan ganna eppa, Oya kattiyama eka game ne, (Don’t take that too seriously. After all, you’re all from the same village) is what he told me in Sinhalese.”
If this was the attitude of the police at present, then one could imagine the terror in store, said Mr. Senasinghe whose party office was also attacked and damaged by goons earlier.
Mohamed Muzammil, a high profile candidate for the UNP in the Colombo District, alleged that pro-government goons were targeting UNP organizers and intimidating then to stifle the opposition campaign but their attempts had proven futile.
“The government is resorting to every method to defeat the UNP in the Western Province, but the UNP will emerge strong. The UPFA will soon realise that its intimidation tactics would be counterproductive,” Mr. Muzammil said.
He said the people in Colombo were rallying around the UNP because they reject communal politics, He said he was confident that he would head the Colombo District preference vote list because he was being supported by people from all communities.
The UPFA’s Colombo District frontline candidate Sunil Jayamini dismissed the allegations made by the opposition, mainly the JVP, saying that they were making up stories to win sympathy votes. “There is absolutely no need for the UPFA to unleash violence against its opponents, because we are going to win with a large majority”.
The UPFA politico charged that the JVP was staging attacks on its own party offices and placing the blame on the UPFA. “The people will not be fooled by this cheap leftist tactics. The results of the upcoming polls would deal a devastating blow to the JVP. It will be wiped out from the political map of this country,” Mr. Jayamini said.
Actor-turned-politician and UPFA hopeful Roger Senaviratne denied his party was selling the war to garner more votes, but at the same he time he added that these heroes should not be forgotten during the campaign trail.
“At a time when the present administration has cornered the LTTE to a tiny stretch of land in the north, it is indeed our duty to glorify them. I see nothing wrong with this, although the JVP and the opposition think otherwise.”
He said the JVP was largely responsible for its own downfall.
The previous PA government offered it four important ministries, through which it could have showed its capabilities to the people. But they squandered the opportunity and in the process let down the very people who voted them in,” Mr. Senaviratne said.
When The Sunday Times spoke to Elections Commissioner’s officials, they admitted violence was on the rise, but they exercised caution and did not want to add any credence to the opposition’s claim that much of the violence was committed by the UPFA with police connivance.
The officials could also not be drawn into comment when asked on the alleged mass abuse of government property and other facilities by UPFA candidates, though they said they were looking into some of these allegations.
Police Elections Chief and Deputy Inspector General Gamini Navaratne said several incidents had been reported and that they were looking into them, but he vehemently denied allegations that the police were taking sides.
He said that not many incidents were being reported to police as they were being reported to various polls monitors. “There is no truth in these allegations. It is an offence to commit a crime and also an equal offence if one fails to report a crime as it is the case in some instances.”
He said that the biggest problem at present was the rivalry between members of the same party in the fight for the ‘manape’ votes. Several such instances have already been reported to police.
He also called on all party supporters and candidates to carry out their activities in a peaceful manner, and also to keep in mind the threat from the LTTE.
The DIG also said the police had drawn up several special plans to combat pre-election violence, but refused to go into detail.
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