Point of View

Ranil accused of pusillanimous leadership

By K. Arvind

Now that the hustle and bustle of the April 6 PC Elections are over, it is perhaps a good time to pause and take a look at what the voter's message was.

As is to be expected, both the PA and UNP sides are claiming victory. The irony of it is - like the case of the half-glass of water - one can convincingly argue in favour of either side. If one were to discuss the issue from a totally detached angle the voters message is one of disillusionment.

The very large numbers who opted to keep out of voting and the large number of spoilt votes are indications the electorate is tired of this game of musical chairs and wants a deliverer to overcome the impasse. In many Districts the results are confusing and renders the legitimacy of the results to question.

In the central Province (Kandy District) of the registered voters of 780,232 only 565,059 have voted - with 45,000 spoilt votes.

The difference between the PA (247,250 votes) and UNP (232,934 votes) is only 14,316 whereas over 215,173 have kept out of the polls with an additional 45,000 casting spoilt votes. In the (Matale District) of 281,089 registered voters only 201,363 have voted with 16,257 spoilt votes. PA (95,115 votes) and UNP (70,705 votes) gives the PA a slender majority of 24,410 votes whereas those who kept out of voting numbered over 80,000 with 16,000 spoilt votes. In the (Nuwara Eliya District) the situation is no better.

Of 391,585 registered voters only 302,416 have voted with 30,853 spoilt votes. The difference between the UNP (88,020 votes) and the PA (79,264 votes) is only 8,756 votes whereas about 90,000 have kept out of voting and 30,000 of the votes cast were spoilt votes. This lacuna leaves open to argument if the democratic process of electing representatives has been grotesquely distorted. In focusing on the voting pattern one wonders how the UNP failed to take advantage of the Government's many a faux pas of nearly five years and not win comfortably. UNPers are alarmed the leadership was not able to capitalise on the major weaknesses of the PA administration after 4-1/2 years of "non-performance". It is an accepted fact in developing countries where parties making the largest portfolio of promises manage to grab power - often duping most of the voters. Sri Lanka has not been free of this trend (remember Sirimavo's promise "to bring rice even from the moon" and JR's "eta-ata" etc). What invariably happens in such societies is by about the end of the 2nd year parties that come to power on flawed promises see a gradual erosion of public confidence in them.

By the 4th year, if the ruling party is still in power, demands for change manifest in various forms - never too peacefully.

In CBK's case - where she managed to cling on to power over 4 1/2 years - a carefully-organised and relentless campaign by an effective opposition would have resulted in her downfall by now. Fortunately for the President, in addition to her stars being in the right positions, and to her own capacity to retain voters' interest, she has an added and welcome support coming from a totally unexpected quarter - from the weak and inarticulate Ranil leading the UNP. Admittedly, Ranil is a decent man with an established history of political integrity - provided one is prepared to give him the benefit of doubt in the happenings at Batalanda. Ranil's other misfortune is that he has to be compared with his predecessors - political giants in any scene - JRJ and Premadasa. Comparing Ranil's leadership in challenging times with these 2 UNP immortals will make him a "nonstarter."

It certainly does not enhance our political history and culture today that the more experienced MH Mohamed and ACS Hameed are not even contenders for the leadership slot - for they are victims of a negative component in our contemporary political scenario - communal politics - where long devotion to party, experience and ability are consigned to subservience by majoritarian considerations - and that in a "plural" society whose sacrosanct Constitution guarantees equality to all and an implied assurance that the ablest will get their just dues. That sadly not being the reality, and with the UNP with no suitable number 2 or 3 the affable Karu Jayasuriya comes in to view.

But he is too new, inexperienced. Perhaps too good and well-intentioned for the rough and tumble of the political arena in today's violence-soaked political scene in the country.

His inexperience was clearly illustrated when he probably went beyond the party whip and announced he would cooperate with the Chief Minister of the WP from the opposition at a time when the PA Chief ministerial candidate is still unsure of gathering the necessary support for his survival in the Council. The pronouncement may have added to Karu's growing stature in the country but it certainly damaged the UNP's potential strategical maneouverings in the power-struggle to clinch the WP council hierarchical structure.

In the April 6 hustings if Chandrika had as her adversaries either JR or Premadasa she would have been reduced beyond recognition to rubble - as her more experienced mother was in less trying conditions.

But Ranil, otherwise a pleasant and good man, is a poor successor to them in this tough game and so CBK stood to gain. Political savvy and a capability to envision the future are absolutely necessary here, which Ranil clearly lacks. Good example was when many senior UNP'ers asked Ranil to mount a campaign against CBK about an year after her coming to power - citing the broken promises of bread at Rs. 2/50, failure to honour her solemn pledge to abolish the office of the Executive President etc. Ranil surprised those battle-hardened UNP veterans by advising them to be patient for at least another 2-1/2 years before such a campaign is considered. By the time the 2-1/2 years came by Chandrika had consolidated the PA power base. Senior insiders within the UNP then began to doubt Ranil's leadership acumen. Worse, many UNPer's in the interior had to go underground in their own electorates for their own safety because by then PA supporters in these areas were becoming strong on all fronts.

Ranil, accused of pusillanimous leadership by these UNPers, could not guarantee even the safety of his own supporters in a violence-dominated political scene. Measured by this yardstick there is little doubt Chandrika will again win against Ranil if she calls for a Presidential election anytime within the year. This is, of course, not because the larger majority of people want her and trust her to solve their major problems. But simply because the UNP lacks effective leadership and direction. Does this mean that the UNP which for the 1st time - is without number 2, 3, 4 - is in a hopeless situation? Definitely not. If the UNP with its, 3.5 million block votes want to come back to power in the immediate future it is not that they have no strong and charismatic leaders to dislodge the high-riding CBK but the UNP party machinery will have to learn to forgive and forget a lot of things to get their act together in their quest for power.

There is the popular Anura Bandaranaike - capable, experienced, and trusted politician: who can play Moses to the groping UNP and deliver them to their "promised land" of electoral victory. He has both a high-profile local and international image, a good family background etc. to bring the UNP back to power. What does it matter if he is still suspiciously viewed by some in the UNP to be too much of an SLFPer who has switched from the SLFP to the UNP arguably on "personal grounds". If his father could have switched from the UNP to the SLFP and deliver them to a massive landslide victory the talented Anura Bandaranaike can lead the UNP and, more importantly, unite the SLFP (which claims 3 3.2. million block vote) and the UNP to form a majority....... Sinhala consensus, which perhaps is the only medium that can pave the way to overcome the ethnic problem, usher in a sustainable peace and unite the country to proceed towards economic recovery. With the vast reservoir of goodwill Sri Lanka has always engaged from the donor community a promising political development of this nature can result in massive flows of aid and other financial support to embark on a crash programme to develop the North and East and rehabilitate lost infrastructure in the rest of the land.

About two years ago the writer asked Anura if he sees himsef in that position that General Charles de Gaulle found himself in the late 50's where the French were praying for a liberating source when France was rocked by economic instability, near collapse of her political system - much of it consequences of the Algerian War. De Gaulle fulfilled a historic role and delivered France to peace, political stability, economic recovery and prosperity. When I asked Anura if he feels ready to meet such a challenge if such indeed were the designs of fate, he smiled and demurred yet charmingly "That's very kind of you. Thank you very much." But Anura Bandaranaike is a student of political history and knows only too well that often for those in his position and background the compulsions of history are difficult to resist.

Point of View

It is the floating vote bank, stupid!

An interpretation of Provincial Council Election Results

By D.N.R. Samaranayaka

According to the results of the recently concluded provincial council elections, the People's Alliance (PA) was able to capture the power of all five provincial councils, including the four provincial councils earlier held by the United National Party (UNP). The PA claims that the results gave a landslide victory to the PA, but most observers consider the PA's victory is very narrow or marginal, showing more clearly a declining popularity of the PA.

Although there are a quite large number of complaints and few deaths related to the elections, most observers consider the environment that prevailed in all five provinces was much more peaceful than the environment that prevailed during the Wayamba election.

Even if there were incidents of intimidation, vote rigging, and impersonation, as claimed by the opposition parties, they would not have occurred to an extent that would have affected the outcome of the elections.

Consider, for example, the Western Provincial Council which was won by the PA by a majority of about 9066. If the outcome of this were to be different, at least 4533 voters who would have voted for the UNP would have been forced to vote for the PA. If this happened PA's vote would have gone up by 4533 and UNP's vote would have gone down by 4533 resulting the PA's majority of 9066 in the Western Provincial Council. Certainly there was no evidence to that effect.

Voting Behaviour

Broadly speaking, election results reflect voting behavioural of the population and, therefore, they provide useful information to measure changes of the people's perception particularly about the ruling party. In any election it is the ruling party that is subject to scrutiny by the people. Any gains by other parties may not necessarily reflect that the voter's acceptance of other parties has increased. It is possible for the ruling party to capture any reduction in the preference in the recent election in a subsequent election provided that it can evolve as a party that can be trusted again by the majority.

This article reports some broad conclusions based on an analysis of the results of the elections. The focus here is mainly on the performance of the PA's five year rule and the UNP's progress as an alternative party.

The analysis compares the results of the 1999 provincial council elections with the 1994 general election results. The results of the last provincial council elections were not used because they were conducted under the UNP administration. The reason for this preference for 1994 general election results for compulsion was to capture the trend between two elections under the same regime. Furthermore, most observers regard the 1994 election, which was won by the PA, as a fair election with very little violence, intimidation or vote rigging.

Votes polled

Comparison of the results of the 1999 provincial council elections and the 1994 general elections is reported in Table 1. As shown, the number of registered voters increased from 6,692,420 in 1994 to 7,127,437 in 1999 or by 435,017. On the other hand, the total votes polled declined from 5,513,487 in 1994 to 5,000,139 in 1999 or by 594,017 during the same period. The reduction would have been 844,359 between 1994 and 1999 if 82% of the registered voters, which voted in 1994, would have voted in 1999 instead of the reported 71%.

This reduction is not very encouraging to all the recognized parties since it reflects the apathy of the voters towards party politics in this country. However, it is also possible that the reduction may also be due to lower importance attached to provincial council elections by some voters. If latter is the reason for the drop in votes polled, then both major parties will have a difficult task in assessing how they will vote or which party they will prefer in a future election. This issue arises because most of those who failed to vote belong to the floating vote category since party supporters will normally cast their vote to the party of their choice.

Rejected Votes

The rejected votes in 1999 increased to 348,135 from 267,395 in 1994 or by 80,700. This increase cannot be explained by the lack of understanding of the voter about the election procedure since a number of elections have been conducted under this system in the past. It is therefore possible that voters are intentionally spoiling their votes. At least 80% of the rejected votes (around 278,500) in the 1999 elections can be regarded as those who wished to use their votes to show their dissatisfaction towards, particularly, the two major parties.

80% of the rejected votes (around 278,500) in the 1999 elections can be regarded as those who wished to use their votes to show their dissatisfaction towards, particularly, the two major parties.

Party Preference

A straightforward comparison between the results of the 1994 general election and the 1999 provincial council elections is difficult because of the distortion introduced by a large number of rejected votes. The difference in votes received by the two main parties was about 126,000, which is only 36% of the rejected votes. The comparison has been further complicated by the lower turnout and the substantial reduction experienced by the two main parties in 1999 compared with 1994.

The PA suffered a loss of 594,086 while the UNP's loss was 473,085. With the exception of the Matale district, PA's share of the votes polled declined in every district in 1999 compared to 1994. The largest drop was in Colombo district from 49% in 1994 to 36.7% in 1999. The UNP gained in Colombo district, but it failed to increase its share in all other districts. The largest drop was in Nuwara Eliya district and it was mainly due to a large number of estate voters who voted for the UNP in the past have now cast their votes to the new party.

The results indicate a very complex pattern. In general if the ruling party is experiencing a drop in its popularity, then it gives an opportunity to the main opposition to strengthen its position by attracting those dissatisfied supporters from the ruling party. However, the significant loss experienced by the UNP suggests that it has not been able to use the declining popularity of the ruling party to its advantage.

In terms of the campaign focus, the PA used a negative and defensive strategy by attacking the UNP about its 17-year rule highlighting the terror that prevailed during that period.. Unfortunately, that strategy appears to have worked against the government since it suggested that the PA does not have the confidence about its own performance during the last five years.

Although the PA criticizes the UNP regime, it also continues to follow the same policies that the UNP introduced between 1977 and 1994. Even the devolution package that the PA is trying to promote was initially designed by the UNP. Policies on foreign investments, privatization, economic diversification, and poverty alleviation that this government is pursuing were all designed by the UNP. There is no policy that can be clearly identified with the PA.

The current growth rate of around 5% is not an achievement that the PA can claim credit for since it is largely due to the economic transformation that came about following the liberalization policies of the UNP regime. As a result of the structural changes that occurred in the Sri Lankan economy, it now can grow around 5% annually, which can now be regarded as the natural rate of economic growth, even if there is no government in the country provided that the economy does not suffer from natural disasters or terrorism.

The criticism of the PA regarding the UNP administration also implies that the SLFP administration between 1970 and 1977, which was characterized by restrictions, controls, queues and shortages, was also better than the UNP administration between 1977 and 1994.

What is the explanation for the drop in UNP votes? It appears that ineffective UNP campaign relative to PA's campaign, as most others have noted, as the most plausible explanation for its less than impressive performance at the provincial council elections. If PA was able to achieve an increase compared to the 1994 results, then the reduction of the UNP can be attributed to reduction of its acceptance by the voter compared with 1994 or to the success of the PA's campaign about the UNP's 17-year rule. Since both parties did not perform well, the UNPs drop appears to reflect its weak organizational capacity to meet the challenge of the PA's campaign.

The Third Force

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) emerged as the party that achieved the third highest votes, and this has led to the claims that JVP has become the third force. While it is true that it holds the balance of power particularly in the Western Provincial Council, there is no statistical evidence to suggest that it has emerged as the third party. In the past there were other parties in that position, but all of them have now reached almost political oblivion. Furthermore, the JVP total voter strength is only a fraction of the total votes received by either the PA or the UNP and even less than the total votes rejected.

If JVP is the third force it would have captured a substantial amount of the votes that did not go to the two main parties. It was also possible to have lesser amount of rejected votes and an improved turnout at the elections since the voters who are dissatisfied with the two main parties now have an alternative. The results do not show such a trend. The reason why the JVP failed to attract these votes is that it only talks about the policies pertaining to the party; it does not say anything about the policies that are important to the economy or to the society. Even if JVP is the most disciplined and honest party, it will not have the acceptance from the people without policies that are acceptable to the people. Furthermore, the JVP now has the responsibility to explain its policies to the people since it has now been transformed from a revolutionary force into a democratic party. On the basis of the election results, a third party is yet to emerge.

Social Cost

The unaccounted votes at the recent elections include those that failed to vote and those who spoilt their votes. As discussed earlier the first category accounts for about 844,000 while the second is about 278,500. Thus the unaccounted votes at the provincial council elections totalled more than 1.1 million which accounts for 19% of the voters who would have voted in the five provinces.

A major reason to have a large number of unaccounted votes appears to reflect the dissatisfaction by some voters towards the two major parties. They consider only alternative to not voting for two major parties is not voting at all or spoiling their votes.

Unfortunately there is a serious social cost of unaccounted votes to the society since their votes are not accounted when electing representatives. Although they consider that by not voting or by spoiling the votes they are sending a protest message to leading parties, there is, however no impact of that action since their votes are not part of the votes that determine the outcome of the elections.

If their votes were counted, on the other hand, the outcome of the election results would have been different and, more importantly, it would reflect the broader view of the community. The cost to the society by the unaccounted votes is that they do not influence the major parties to improve their performance or to develop policies that are needed to maintain a stable economy. Therefore, it is a mistake that people make by not voting or spoiling their votes that they are protesting against the leading political parties or the prevailing political culture in this country. The biggest loser of their action is the society since their participation at the elections would have resulted in an improvement in policy decisions as well as the political culture.

Conclusion

Clearly the election results are not favour able for either to the ruling party or the main opposition. A large number of voters have not participated at the last provincial council elections and, therefore, the outcome of future elections appears difficult to determine at this stage. However, the ruling party will have to make a strong effort to demonstrate its ability to do better than it has performed thus far in order to attract a sizeable segment of the floating vote if it wants to retain power. The floating population in particular will have a significant influence in forthcoming elections, therefore, the government should not be too optimistic about its ability to win forthcoming elections without attracting a sizeable floating vote.

The government's propaganda to boost the image of the ruling party and its leadership has no impact on the floating population since this group makes their decisions on the basis of the performance of the government.

The UNP, on the other hand, has demonstrated that it lacks organizational capacity to match the campaign of the PA and its leadership does not have a clear strategy as to how it could face the criticisms of the previous UNP regime.

Finally, the election of the chief ministerial candidates of the two major parties with massive margins clearly demonstrate the calibre of candidates that the voter prefers to have and, therefore, the inclusion of such candidates in future elections could make the difference between winning and losing.

Focus on Rights

Mass graves: importance of looking good

By Kishali Pinto Jayewardena

As the committee of three internationally renowned jurists and Human Rights scholars appointed under the Oslo Accord to look into the Guatemalan conflict, handed over their report to the country's leaders last month, it was apt that their findings should be prefaced by an appeal from a survivor's testimony that "Let the history we lived be taught in the schools so that it is never forgotten, so that our children may know it."

The report of the Commission, which documents an exceptionally moving account of the country's three decade agony, expresses the hope however that the violence and horrors described in it should leave no room for despair. " …………(on the contrary), despite the shock that the nation should suffer upon seeing itself reflected in the mirror of its past, it was to be hoped that the truth would lead to reconciliation………………, the victims whose past had been degraded and manipulated will be dignified (while) the perpetrators, through the recognition of their immoral and criminal acts, will be able to recover the dignity of which they had deprived themselves."

Fast on its way to being acknowledged as one of the most extensive recent analyses detailing the fragmentation of a country's morality and dignity, the report of the three member commission interestingly called the Commission for Historical Clarification (the point being that it was not established to judge but rather to clarify the history of the civil war) makes compulsory reading for us, living as we do in an equally high intense conflict zone.

Indeed, there are many points of comparison and few of departure.

The Commission states that its main purpose was to place on record Guatemala's recent bloody past, for though it is accepted that the country's armed confrontation, largely between its ruling elite and the ethnic Mayan people, had caused death and destruction, the gravity of the abuses suffered repeatedly by its people has yet to become part of the national consciousness.

The Committee's mandate was to seek for answers to bewildering questions. Why have innocent people been compelled to live under the shadow of fear, death and disappearances for more than 34 years? Why have there been daily threats in the lives of ordinary citizens having no connection with armed groups or paramilitary groups? Who can explain the extreme human rights abuses committed by both forces and specially by the State? Why did defenceless children suffer acts of savagery? Why did these acts of outrageous brutality, which showed no respect for the most basic rules of humanitarian law, religious ethics and cultural spirituality take place? All questions, undoubtedly, of intense relevance to us.

The indictment that the Commission delivers on Guatemala's leaders, both state and non state, proceeds fundamentally on the basis that both these two actors conducted themselves on the erroneous belief that the end justifies the means. " …….this is what converted Guatemala into a country of death and sadness" the Commission comments.

Up to date, the number of persons killed since the outbreak of the internal armed confrontation in 1962 have been estimated to be over two hundred thousand with state forces and related paramilitary being responsible for 93% of the deaths.

Guerrilla forces are held accountable for only a 3% of these atrocities while the remaining 4% concern deaths where it has not been possible to determine responsibility.

The victims include men, women and children of all social strata, working professionals, church members, politicians, peasants, students and academics. In ethnic terms, the vast majority were Mayans.

That the majority of human rights violations occurred with the knowledge or by order of the highest authorities of the State is, of course, a foregone conclusion.

The Commission dismisses the excuse that lower ranking Army commanders were acting with a wide margin of autonomy and decentralisation without orders from their superiors.

It is pointed out, in a reminder that has overtones of general familiarity for us, that no high commander, officer or person in the midlevel command of the Army or state security forces were tried or convicted for human rights abuses in all those years, whatever convictions being only with regard to significantly lower ranking personnel whose trials were attended with monumental publicity.

This is taken to reinforce the fact that the violations were the result of an institutional policy, thereby ensuring impunity for those officers.

On the other hand, high level responsibility for abuses are not made to rest on the State alone. Guerrilla high military commanders are held accountable for deliberate attacks on civilians. Interestingly, the role of the church in the Guatemalan conflict is also critiqued on the basis that the divisive policies it adopted lead to a further fragmentation of the national identity.

Meanwhile, in a somewhat differing scenario from ours, the Guatemalan judiciary has been heavily castigated for its incapacity in investigating, trying, judging and punishing even a small number of those responsible for the most serious rights violations. This yardstick is applied not only to special military tribunals set up to look into allegations but also the ordinary justice system. Acts and omissions by the judicial branch such as the systematic denial of habeas-corpus, continuous interpretation of the law in a manner favourable to the authorities, indifference to the torture of detainees and limitations on the right to defence are quoted as grave violations of the duty of the judiciary. The fact remained however that the few judges who kept their independence were victims of repressive acts, including murder and threats.

While the manner in which the Commission has pinpointed responsibility for past violations is important, the value of its report for us lies equally in what has been detailed as imperative measures for the process of national healing. One particularly crucial line of reasoning developed by the Commission concerns the existence of clandestine and hidden mass graves and the anguish suffered by many Guatemalans as a result of not knowing what had happened to their relatives.

"This is an open wound. They (the mass graves) are a permanent reminder of the acts of violence that denied the dignity of their loved ones. Healing of these particular wounds requires the (prompt, systematic and expert) exhumation of secret graves as well as the definitive identification of the whereabouts of the disappeared" the Commission states.

Given the high number of such graves existing in all parts of the country, the excavation of which are still continuing, the Commission has proposed that the Government prepare and develop an active policy cum law of exhumation to be presented to the country's legislative assembly for approval.

This is to set in place rapid and effective procedures for the excavation of mass graves for which the responsibility for action lies more in the hands of impartial supervisors like the Human Rights Ombudsman, rather than in agents of the state whether it be the Minister of Defence or the Chief Prosecutor's Office.

Additionally, it is stated that in the name of the State of Guatemala and with the primary aim of restoring dignity to the victims, the President of the Republic and the leaders of the political and military forces responsible for the violations assume responsibility for past violations and ask pardon for them. Remembrance of the victims are meanwhile provided for with the naming days of commemoration and the construction of monuments and public parks in their names.

As far as reparatory measures are concerned, individual economic benefits are detailed with the suggestion that a National Reparation Programme consisting of independent civil actors be set up for this purpose.

Importantly, it is specified that an equally independent committee will examine the conduct of senior military and police officers during that period and recommend suitable punitive action.

Upon release of the report, the reactions of the Guatemalan government has been muted. It is predicted though that, given intense international pressure, Guatemala's current political leaders will have little option but to consider and implement its terms.

It has taken Guatemala three decades to come to terms with its past. One wonders whether the same horrendous prediction will be true of this country.

Measures suggested by Guatemala's Commission find an echo in detailed recommendations made by the three Sri Lankan Disappearances Commissions regarding what steps could be taken to lessen the anguish of thousands of persons affected by our own conflict.

That was as way back as 1997. No action has been taken up to date. Yet another Disappearances Commission that is performing "mopping up" operations of the earlier Commissions is now under way.

While the sincerity of the efforts of the Commissioners cannot be underrated, one cannot help but feel pessimistic about the ultimate fate of its efforts. The history of other commissions of inquiry have been as dismal. The report of the Batalanda Commission has not yet been made public.

Instead, misguided disciplinary action was taken against police officers apparently named in the report who then were able to invoke fundamental rights protection of the Constitution on their behalf in an ironically amusing checkmate.

Meanwhile, excavations of mass graves in the country continue in a haphazard fashion. The mass graves at Suriyakanda, once the center of attention, still remain neglected while Chemmani is back in the news and will continue to be so come mid-June when excavations of the site are reportedly due.

To add to the farcical drama, twenty three skeletons have been reportedly discovered todate in the Alfred Duraiappah stadium, a mass grave that was discovered accidentally by labourers during the course of their work.

Excavations of these graves too are proceeding, as desultory news items in the newspapers inform us. Underpinning all this is, of course, the inevitable strategic need to "look good", epitomised by the fact that sittings of the Human Rights Commission are presently underway in Geneva.

Aided by the comforting knowledge that many of the past human rights abuses were committed by its political foes, the initial moves of the present political regime to bring to account perpetrators of abuses were accomplished with gusto.

It is apparent that five years into power and in a context of basic political necessities, this gusto has miserably petered out. It will be interesting to see at what critical point, if at all, our leaders will realise that the falsity of superficial ad hoc measures can only but mock fundamental problems of a nation in crisis.

inside the glass house:

UNESCO

Fighting for the hot seat

By: thalif deen at the united nations

The highest ranking jobs in the UN system do not necessarily go to the best and the brightest. The heads of UN agencies— such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)— are chosen at elections which are, most often, corrupt and reminiscent of Olympic pay-offs. It is rarely that a candidate with the right credentials climbs to the top.

The heads of UN Funds and Programmes— such as the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP)— are "appointed" by the Secretary-General, but in reality dictated by rich donor nations who call the shots.

When Japan's Hiroshi Nakajima ran for a second term as WHO Director-General in 1993, the elections were marred by a vote-buying scandal.

Japan, one of the world's major donors, pressured aid-recipients, mostly poorer developing nations in Africa, to cast their votes in favour of Japan.

The trade-off was apparently increased Japanese aid. Nakajima won by an overwhelming majority.

When the US, who were unhappy about Nakajima's decision to run for a second term, complained about "unethical practices", the Japanese turned to the Americans and said, in effect, "What are you complaining about?.

You have been doing this all the time." And the Japanese were right.

In elections for non-permanent seats in the Security Council last year, Greece was competing for one of the European seats. Just before the elections, either by accident of by design, the Greeks offered lavish pre-paid luxury cruises in the Aegean Sea for virtually all of the UN ambassadors from developing nations— which was accepted by most of the envoys who saw no conflict of interest.

But unfortunately for Greece, it lost the elections.

The next major elections in the UN system is for Director-General of UNESCO, and is scheduled to take place in October. Last week Sri Lanka formally submitted the candidature of its Paris-based Ambassador— Senake Bandaranayake— for the prestigious job which carries a salary of about $150,000 annually.

A former Director-General of the Central Cultural Fund and Vice Chancellor of the Kelaniya University, Bandaranayake is up against Asian and African candidates with equally good credentials.

But some of them are also armed with fat wallets.

According to an unwritten rule, the new director-general should come from an Asian developing country which has never held the job since the Paris-based UN agency was created 53 years ago.

But despite restrictions of geography and economic classifications, Japan (an Asian industrial nation) and Egypt (an African country) are competing with four Asian developing countries— namely Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia.

Since 1946, the director-general's job has been held by John Huxley (UK), Jaime Bodet (Mexico), John Taylor and Luther Evans (US), V. Veronese (Italy), Rene Maheu (France), Amadou M'Bow (Senegal) and current incumbent Federico Mayor (Spain) who was elected in 1987.

The front-runner for the job is Ismail Serageldin of Egypt, a vice president of the World Bank, who has already received endorsements from 32 Nobel Laureates, including scientists, educationists and cultural leaders, and is the sole candidate endorsed by the 53-member Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

But his candidature has split Middle Eastern nations because of the presence of a second Arab candidate, Ghazi Algosaibi, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UK, who is being backed by his country's oil riches.

Japan, which has been increasingly vying for UN jobs on the ground that it is a major donor nation, is pushing the candidacy of Ambassador Matsuuara Koichiro who is ambassador to France.

Japan is now the second largest contributor to the UN budget accounting for 20 percent of the 1.2 billion annual budget: up from 17.9 percent in 1998. The US, which is the largest single donor, accounts for 25 percent of the UN budget.

"Since most high ranking jobs in the UN system are now donor driven," one Third World diplomat said, "Japan is hoping to resort to cheque book diplomacy."

At a UN press conference last month, the Filipino candidate, Ambassador Rosario Gonzales Manalo, complained that no Filipinos hold any high ranking jobs in the UN system.

Manalo, who is Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Secretary-General of the UNESCO National Commission in the Philippines, also stressed the fact that she is the only woman candidate for the job. Manalo's candidacy comes at a time when women's groups have complained that the majority of all senior UN jobs are now held by men.

The 58-member UNESCO Executive Board will meet in May for a preliminary review of the six candidates.

By Sept. 10, the candidates are expected to submit a 2,000-word paper, in English and French, setting out their own visions for UNESCO.

The Board will meet again in October for an in-depth interview of the candidates. A short list of candidates, recommended by the Board, will go before the 186-member UNESCO General Conference in late October for final approval.

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