News
Vote-buying and freebies lead to SLPP member losing seat in landmark ruling
View(s):Any member who is found guilty of having engaged in bribery to win votes is liable to be disqualified from holding his seat under provisions of the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, the Monaragala High Court ruled this week in a landmark case involving bribes being offered to win votes.
High Court Judge Ranga Dissanayake gave the ruling when he held that a Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Monaragala Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) member, D.M. Harshaka Priya Dissanayake, had offered bribes in return for votes to be elected to the PS from the Maduruketiya Division.
The member had distributed money and goods to volunteer organisations in the electorate and even helped households to get electricity and water supply connections in return for votes, the Monaragala High Court observed.
The judgment was given in respect of a case filed by United National Party (UNP) candidate Wanasinghe Mudiyanselage Sunil Shantha Wanasinghe in collaboration with the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) and the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV).
The court ruled that with the SLPP member being disqualified, his seat should go to the petitioner, the UNP candidate, who obtained the next highest number of votes.
Court noted investigations had revealed that on November 28, 2017, a single person had deposited money at a state bank branch in Monaragala to obtain new water connection for 20 to 30 individuals. Receipts from the bank indicated that the money had been deposited under a single National Identity Card (NIC) and mobile phone number. Investigations conducted by police had revealed that the money had been deposited by a government employee who worked at the District Medical Officer of Health (MOH) office. There had been a complaint against the individual that he was working for the SLPP member’s campaign.
A Right to Information (RTI) Request filed with the National Water Supply & Drainage Board’s Monaragala office resulted in the disclosure of documents which revealed that money had been deposited by those working for the SLPP candidate to obtain as many as 96 new water connections during the period from November 28, 2017 to January 6, 2018.
Court noted that statements made by those who obtained the water connections on the witness stand that they had deposited the money themselves could not be accepted, with some witnesses even being unable to say how much they had paid for the connections.
Moreover, the person who deposited the money too had admitted under questioning that his salary was not enough for him to pay the Rs 20,000 that was necessary to obtain each water connection. The candidate meanwhile had distributed a leaflet to voters where it states that he had spent Rs 7 million to provide water to residents of Maduruketiya. However, it was never stated in court that the candidate Harshaka Dissanayake had initiated any such project from his personal funds to provide water.
Court also found that the SLPP member and/or his associates have distributed money to some local organisations and dry rations to others also with the aim of obtaining votes. He had also helped to obtain new electricity connections to nine persons.