When the politicians come marching in
View(s):It must have already happened if you to live in the Western or Southern provinces. Contestants at the two provincial polls in March and their lackeys would commence (of have already done) the door-to-door rounds promising the sun, moon and earth to residents to secure their vote.
This is the time when the politicians come marching in at your doorstep with promises and promises. Remember the famous Sri Lanka Freedom Party promise ‘we will bring rice from the moon (handen haal)’ during the 1970s!
Sri Lankans are either extremely vulnerable, plain stupid, don’t care or simply disinterested in what’s happening in their neighbourhood. Or will they wake up this time, at least?
For that matter who knows what provincial councils do (though it’s there in fine print in laws and regulations). Ask yourself or your neighbour what is the mandate of provincial councils and most often the answer is that most of the work – garbage collection, road maintenance, water supply, etc – is handled by local authorities or central government institutions.
Here is set of questions one could ask candidates who call at your doorstep:
- Are you responsible for garbage collection?
- Are you responsible for road maintenance?
- If so, why are roads in Colombo in a state of chaos; dug up, dusty and resulting in limited space which leads to more travel time to reach your destination? Why can’t such work be completed section by section?
- Why can’t the authorities do things better?
Some candidates, most unlikely, would not even know or have a clue about the mandate of these councils they are supposed to represent. Their general pitch would be “support the Government because of the great development that has taken place and for finishing the war (in the case of ruling party candidates)” or “this Government is corrupt and incompetent and must be defeated (in the case of opposition contestants)”.
Ask them the difference between local councils – municipalities, urban and pradeshiya (sabhas) – and provincial councils and they wouldn’t have a clue. In other words, today’s provincial council candidates with the exception of a few, contest mainly to defeat an opposition candidate or a ruling party candidate and win power. There is no other objective, as far as the people are concerned.
In today’s world where politicians are viewed with distain by the public which has nothing but contempt for most of them, is it surprising that there is a rush to seek nominations amongst the two main political parties?
Maybe not because of the perks of office – official car, bodyguards, influence in tenders and contracts, etc.
There are also various ruses adopted by candidates like for example checking the number of voters in a household and whether anyone is abroad.
Once when a candidate and his supporters went door-to-door canvassing, he asked those at home whether anyone worked abroad. “Why? You want to use that vote through impersonation? You have no right to ask that information,” the chief householder said, sending the group packing with embarrassment!
However not many residents will have the courage to confront candidates and their stooges these days in an era where threats, intimidation and plain thuggery, rules and the police are helpless. A classic example was a former soldier-turned candidate who assaulted a policeman in a public area recently. If not for vivid pictures of the assault in a Colombo newspaper which drew public outrage, the incident would have gone unnoticed with the helpless constable kicking his heels in the station, fearing he would be transferred! Such is the level of the“I-don’t-care-what-others-think” kind of politics these days.
Another talking point is Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s participation at a political event on Thursday to launch JHU candidate Udaya Gammanpila’s campaign.
Under current rules governing public servants, these officers are barred from taking part in events connected to an election. Having said that this has happened in the past and no action has been taken. Woe betides any other public servant who takes part in an opposition political event. He or she will be instantly dismissed and also lose pensions rights.
According to media reports, while the Elections Commissioner has been quoted as saying that public servants cannot take part in political meetings (“will he follow his words with action”?), Gammanpila has said that Rajapaksa is a political appointee and took part not in his official capacity and thus hasn’t violated any public service regulation.
According to constitutional lawyer J.C. Weliamuna, constitutional provisions are clear on the role and conduct of a public officer who is a paid servant of the state and in the case of a secretary of a ministry, the chief accounting officer of that organisation.The secretary is the custodian of public funds and has an obligation to ensure no resources including human resources (himself included) and vehicles are used in elections. Separately, elections in Sri Lanka are conducted by public officers who must be impartial and independent.
Elections laws, according to Weliamuna, also provide for public resources not be abused to promote or oppose any candidate. “In the section of offences under the Establishments Code, any public servant who has brought disrepute to the service has committed an offence and the Defence Secretary’s conduct would (also) come under this category,” he said.
Be that as it may and as often stated over and over again, rules, regulations and laws do not apply to a certain segment of society.
So as the politicians come marching in with a begging bowl pleading for your vote and your support, it is time to take the bull by the horns and demand action for the neighbourhood. Maybe there are a few sincere candidates out there who would listen to your plea!