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Youths tired of politicians and elections; dip in voter registration
View(s):A drop in voter registration, especially among the country’s youth, has been observed in the latest enumeration process, Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya told the Sunday Times. “I don’t think parties or politicians should be blamed entirely. The youth are not against individual parties or politicians, but against the system as a whole. We have spoken to some of them and they say; ‘we don’t want elections, we have no interest in voting’,” he said. “This is in stark contrast to our times when the youth were much more politically active.”
He said the issue was especially of concern in Colombo and its suburbs. In November, the Commission is expected certify the latest voter registration list which will be valid for any election next year. Mr. Deshapriya said he could not immediately disclose details of the current registration figures for 2018, but could confirm that the figures were below expectations.
Earlier, he told Sunday Times that he was expecting an increase of about 200,000 voters in the 2018 registration list. “Most of the Colombo residents have rented their houses as businesses and moved away from the city. these people then fail to register for voting. The tight security apartments are also of concern. They do not allow our enumerators and Grama Niladharis to distribute the registration forms to the houses,” Mr. Deshapriya said.
“They collect the forms sometimes and fail to give it to the person. We receive filled forms after a year sometimes,” he said. The Commissioner said there was a strange and damaging trend among the youths who, with a flavor of rebellion, opted to stay away from the whole voting system. “My message to the youths is that not everything can be provided for by the private sector. A state is needed, and for this, people must vote,” Mr. Deshapriya said.
Meanwhile, the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said he understood why the youth abstained from registration and that the present politicians were to blame. “The conduct of our leaders and parliamentarians in how they govern the country is what increases the frustration of the people in general, especially the youth, and thus leads to a sense of disillusionment. The Government has failed to announce the provincial council elections, and this may be another reason for the youth to feel less politically connected.
“We saw great youth enthusiasm in the 2015 presidential polls, but following the various lapses of the present Government, they now feel betrayed and distance themselves from the system.” Mr. Hettiarachchi, however, said the youth should not do this, regardless of the political situation. “First of all, it is our duty to register whether we turn up at the polls or not. If we don’t we are not counted as part of the voter base — and this is damaging. If you aren’t happy with the candidate choices you can abstain from voting. But in my opinion this is not a recommended course of action. Because the others will vote, and someone will be elected. So in my opinion you have to analyse and choose the better candidate, even though they may both be bad,” he urged the youth.
He said that what Sri Lanka especially lacked was internal party democracy and a democratic process of fielding candidates to represent a party at the polls. This lack of choice was what caused disillusionment and distanced people politically. “Political involvement has to start at the grassroots,” he said.
Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Director Keerthi Tennakoon said there was a social media campaign backed by the Election Commission to encourage the youth to register, but the negative numbers showed that there were counter-forces simultaneously at work and those forces ultimately won.
“There is the growing daily frustration with Sri Lankan politics and politicians. These factors may have led to this situation,” Mr. Tennakoon said.
“The present unpopular politicians, who are afraid to face elections and therefore keep postponing elections contribute to this lack of voter interest, deeply harming democracy in the course.”
Mr. Tennakoon also said the voter registration system had to be changed.