Saying one thing but doing another

As pointed out in this column earlier too, the disciplinary code is pretty clear in this regard. These repeated instructions are a clear admission of the fact that such disciplinary lapses are rampant. 

There is no need to keep threatening disciplinary action because according to the disciplinary code it is incumbent on the disciplinary authority to take appropriate action against those who fail to comply with legal orders. 

It is appropriate action that is lacking and that is where the hitch is. These repeated instructions given only for the records, while just the opposite is happening, are breaking all records in the downward slide of the Police Service. As for the rank and file, they would very much like to clean their image. 

Instances where police officers trying to enforce election laws and other laws of the land have been moved out are innumerable. Only those who toe the line with the powers that be hold positions that matter. The talk within police circles is that one has to be a violator of human rights to qualify for an important post in the Police. Take the case of the D.I.G./ C. I. D. He was reprimanded for misleading courts – and in a matter of such gravity as the contempt of court charge in the Mahanama Tillakaratne episode that brought disgrace to the entire Police Service. He continues to hold the very important post of D.I.G./ C.I.D. in spite of proven dishonesty and incompetence, while officers of the calibre of SSP G.D.D. Perera, a true product of the past and glorious C.I.D. who will not stoop to conquer, are dumped in cold storage. 

Similarly there are 104 Senior Superintendents of Police in 'cold storage' while relatively junior officers have been 'specially selected' to be in charge of police divisions. 

These senior SPs are not utilized for election duties in the field, because they will not carry out partial orders from junior officers. With partial police officers in place, it is alleged that elections related complaints are often delayed for touching up before they are reported to the Election Secretariat at Police Headquarters. 

A case in point is the Gatambe shooting incident which is alleged to have taken place on September 23 but was not reported to the Election Secretariat for about one week although newspapers carried banner headlines about it. 

It was another instance where the police investigation started with who did not do it. One wonders how the Police have come to play the role of the judiciary as well, and in a manner unknown to any civilized society.

Countdown by H. Chanda Dhamma

Roaring battle of people not policies

The final rallies… By Nilika de Silva All main political parties ended their campaigns under a tight security cover in the western province amidst fears of the LTTE attacks. The PA held the final rally last evening at the Horana Thakshila Hall with Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake presiding over while in UNP's last meeting was presided over by party Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe at Hyde Park corner Colombo. The Prime Minister said that the Government would not stop until they had permanently removed Prabhakaran from the scene. He left the rally around 6.30 p.m.  Mr. Wickramasinghe expressed confidence that the party could win the fothcoming elections. The UNP leader addressed the meeting after 9.00 p.m. The JVP had its rally at Mt. Lavinia Junction. The Sihala Urumaya ended their campaign at De Mel park last evening. All party leaders and chief candidates on stage of main political parties were been given maximum security cover either from the MSD, Police, army or their own guards. The vehicle park at the rally told a story of its own, with ambulances and Fire Engine stationed in readiness.

After long weeks of discussion we must conclude our observations today as the curtain falls on the campaign for general election on Tuesday- a campaign that has claimed at least 20 lives so far and left no clear victor in sight after weeks of hectic electioneering.

As it has been since independence over 50 years ago, it will be either a SLFP led coalition or the UNP which will form the next government. Though that can be surmised even by the naïve, that appears to be the only prediction that even the experts would dare to make.

If voters too are still undecided as to whom they would mark that all important cross on the ballot paper on Tuesday, these last days must surely be time for reflection: would they prefer to endure another six years of the PA or is it time for a change? 

Or, if one were to be even more analytical, is it time to vote in a 'third force' to keep the party in power in check? And if so, is that third force the leftist JVP or the nationalist Sihala Urumaya?

As this countdown ends, one factor is evident. The ruling party is certainly pressing panic buttons as was evident in the outpouring of propaganda in the state media. That was probably after the independent opinion polls published in The Sunday Times and the Sunday Island last week and if that is the level of confidence the think tanks in the government have in themselves, it does not augur well for the PA.

Of course, that didn't stop Rupavahini from quoting The Sunday Times and the Sunday Island, giving only the polls that reflected positive results for the PA while at the same time the Lake House group of newspapers let slip the level of panic by stating on Friday that today's editions of the "UNP controlled" media would publish poll results favourable to the UNP! 

This panic is not without reason. The PA knows well that it enjoyed only a single seat majority even in 1994 when there was a surge of anti-UNP feeling in the country. After six years in office any government's popularity is bound to wane but to offset that handicap it does have the entire state machinery at it's disposal- and it's politicians have not been reticent to use those advantages.

Even then, some sections of the media and the diplomatic community smell doom for the PA at the poll and this was reflected in recent independent observations. The influential Indian daily 'The Hindu' recently said the PA was unlikely to win the election. The news magazine 'Asiaweek" followed suit last week, even going further to suggest that the UNP could win more seats than the PA. These opinions may not reflect the ground realities at Kekirawa, Kayts, Kalawana, Kamburupitiya, Kalmunai, Kandy or Kotte but what it does say is that come what may, this is bound to be one tough race.

To the credit of the PA- and perhaps because of the sense of panic in their camp- there is a sense of urgency in their electioneering and this columnist trekked to the hilly regions of the Central Province to get a 'feel' of things in the region- and it was a revealing visit indeed.

The President's only brother, Anura Bandaranaike and Naveen Dissanayake- another scion of a famous father-had just been ambushed by a group at Hanguranketha, the stronghold of the much-in-the-news S. B. Dissanayake. 

Anura, we understand, swears that toughies of the Ministerial Security Division (MSD) clad in T-shirts fired into the air with their T-56 automatic weapons while Naveen says his life was spared only because of the presence of Anura Bandaranaike. 

The UNP's man from Hanguranketha, Rohan Abeygoonasekera has complained for long that it is impossible to campaign for the UNP with S. B. Dissanayake around but that is the ground situation there.

Down in Kandy it is a similar story but the difference is that not even the PA candidates are permitted to campaign in some areas, like for instance at Wattegama the stronghold of 'General' Anurudhdha Ratwatte, where his supporters tell whomever it may concern- UNP, JVP, Sihala Urumaya or perhaps most of all the PA! that the constituency is 'sealed' ("me kottaashaya seal karala thiyenne"). Indeed this may be the general way of reacting to the PA leadership's decision to omit a minister who runs a high security risk from the National List!

We were made to understand that Nawalapitiya is also 'out of bounds' for many candidates and that is the trend in various regions in the province where the ruling party is preparing for a campaign of thuggery and intimidation on the tenth at least in some areas which are pocket-boroughs of a powerful and energetic minister.

This strategy has met with resistance in an odd way- from within the PA itself. In Kandy for instance, D. M. Jayaratne is putting up banners urging the people of the Kandy district to elect him with the highest preferences- a direct salvo at the 'General' whose huge cardboard cutouts- five times the size of the original- has earned him the nickname 'Cardboard Senpathi'!

Therefore, the campaign between the two main protagonists, the PA and the UNP, is not what it should be-about issues- but has become a battle between personalities. The PA has tried hard to make it a battle between Ratnasiri Wikremanayake and Ranil Wickremesinghe hoping that the Leader of the Opposition would fare as badly as he did against an injured almost blinded Chandrika Kumaratunga in December 1999.

But that might be a miscalculation for the sight of the Prime Minister shouting himself hoarse at public rallies does cut a sorry figure. In any event, it was pathetic for the PA to descend to the level of calling Mr. Wickremesinghe a donkey, bat and an eel in their campaign ads-the nation would have preferred to have the PA talking about their achievements of the past six years instead.

Then there are the never-ending efforts to link Mr. Wickremesinghe to the LTTE. The last straw was a purported Memorandum of Understanding between the UNP and the LTTE, unsigned and undated but flaunted by the Prime Minister and Minister S. B. Dissanayake. 

How pathetic that attempt was came to be highlighted when the Prime Minister was asked whether he could vouch for the authenticity of the document. No, said the Premier meekly but added he would still like voters to take it into consideration!

Given all this last minute posturing, what is the likely result of the election? The long anticipated 'hung Parliament' appears more and more likely with as much as thirty-one seats at stake in the North and East and most of those MPs likely to be amenable to persuasion to support a government if the correct incentives were on offer. In fact, isn't that what happened in 1994 too, with the PA managing to survive for six years in the House with none of the Tamil parties taking an initiative to topple the government?

So, the post-polls scenario which will unravel on October 11 will see the country's biggest auction: where support of the smaller parties will be sold to the highest bidder. In a sense, quite apart from the fun and games expected on the tenth of October, the real fun and games will begin only thereafter.

In this 'auction' of political support it will be President Chandrika Kumaratunga who will have the edge, though. She is still the Executive President of the country and can make tangible offers like cabinet portfolios- and promises to build harbours at Oluvil, for instance. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe for his part has preferred to strengthen the UNP as a single entity and not rely on alliances. Besides, how could he offer portfolios for his potential partners, when theoretically at least the President could assign to herself all the portfolios!

The President has also made known her dislike for working with a UNP cabinet and she knows the only way she could survive effectively in office is with the support of other parties, however ideologically impossible such a cohabitation would be.

But the more dangerous aspect of the PA's manifesto for the next six years is their total absence of any references to a new constitution and its pledge to introduce democracy with a distinctly Sri Lankan flavour. If we are to go by the way the PA handled democracy in Sri Lanka during their six years-the clobbering of photo journalists covering a UNP demonstration on July 15, 1999 taking the cake- then, may the Devas protect Sri Lanka.

In the final analysis then, the PA indeed does have a dismal record vis-à-vis the war, economy and democratic rights but then as Chandrika Kumaratunga so gleefully points out, the UNP has made a habit out of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Nevertheless, it is likely to be a photo finish. So, there is never a dull moment in this politically charged little country of ours, is there? 

For that at least, let us be thankful because the 'free and fair' election will be just that- a free-for-all and all-is-fair poll where a lot of H. Chanda Dhammas will thrive!

Tough job to do amidst pressure and intimidation

This is well seen in the numerous opinion polls carried out islandwide this month which grant a slim margin to one party or another but express profound dissatisfaction with both. 

In the first heady flush of victory on Tuesday, it would do well for whoever who comes on to the government seats to remember this sober truth and be warned in their jubilation.

But Tuesday's election promises to be remarkable not merely for this total collapse of political faith. On the contrary, it will be remembered in the second instance for an even more devastating loss of legal faith, manifesting the almost irreversible extent to which representative democracy has collapsed in this country. This collapse has taken place at many levels. 

On the highest level, the pre-election period witnessed news manipulation and official disregard of court settlements and undertakings in election cases reaching scandalously unrestrained heights. No stranger to contempt of court, Minister S.B. Dissanayake was again unrepentant over statements made by him to the electronic media allegedly distorting an order made by the Court of Appeal that Samurdhi officers could be used for election work only according to certain preconditions and subject to the Establishments Code. 

Other petitions of contempt continued to be filed against state media institutions for distorting orders of court in election related petitions and for not abiding by undertakings given before court regarding allocation of media time to candidates in a fair and impartial manner. Similar complaints were raised meanwhile regarding hearings before the Human Rights Commission of a petition brought by a National List Peoples Alliance member against electoral security strategies adopted by the Elections Commissioner. 

The member subsequently withdrew the petition. But the relevant proceedings before the Commission were blatantly misrepresented in the state media on successive occasions with nary an apology at any point of time. 

As these puerile and totally unethical games continued sans stern warning or punishment, the authority of the law suffered dangerously in the eyes of the people. 

All this meanwhile took place within the context of an election being carried on in an overall negation of the law. This is not merely in reference to the banning of posters, cut outs etc. in respect of which the first offenders should ideally be the Minister of Justice and his supporters given his glossy cut outs and posters all over the city. (refer the Parliamentary Elections Act which prescribes a fine and imprisonment for not more than one month of either description upon conviction after summary trial before a Magistrate for this offence.) The most refreshing exception to this rule was, of course, the Peoples Alliance member from the South, Dallas Alahapperuma who abided by his promise to carry out his election campaign minus all the hoopla. 

But apart from poster violations, this contemptuous brushing aside of the law was taken to destructively newer heights in other respects as well. Perpetrators of election violence continued to be shielded by their parties in the most honourable traditions of the past. And following naturally were the increasingly blatant refusals by the police to record and investigate complaints of election violence by non- Peoples Alliance candidates and their supporters. 

This was so despite clear instructions going out from the IGP to officers and divisions under their command that all complaints without fail should be recorded in the Election Information Book. In this context where the law is set at naught, it would only be naive to expect the police to perform their duties any better on election day itself irrespective of the fact that they have been similarly instructed to use whatever powers vested in them under the Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and other statutes, to ensure the orderly conduct of the poll. 

It is ironic therefore that instructions of the IGP issued on the 1st of this month again contain a clear warning that disciplinary action will be taken against any police officer who intentionally disregards or fails to carry out his duties or any instructions given to him. 

This directive of the IGP was in accordance with concerns expressed by the Supreme Court last year when a petition was brought before it by a citizens body in the wake of the Wayamba elections asking the Court to order that the Commissioner of Elections and the IGP make public all circulars and instructions issued by them with regard to the future polls. However, as is evident, one directive of the IGP cannot a situation make. In the absence of any disciplinary action being taken in any instance in the past even though we had two major elections following the Wayamba elections where action against similarly erring police officers could have been taken, such a directive at this late stage demonstrates yet again, nothing more than a superficial compliance with judicial orders. 

It is in this infinitely depressing backdrop that voters can take good cheer from the fact that Tuesday's elections signify yet another but far more pleasant development. For this year's Parliamentary elections sees the office of the Sri Lankan Elections Commissioner coming of age in a commendable show of courage that refused to be cowed by political arrogance. 

The intimidation that came his way this month in response to electoral measures that he was well empowered to take culminated not in a bang but in an obvious whimper. 

Commissioner Dissanayake may not yet be seen to go to the lengths that his erstwhile and far more powerful colleague T.N. Seshan did in India where elections in some parts were cancelled when the State Governments of Tamil Nadu, and Haryana did not observe the model code of conduct for elections and in others when the Chief Minister of the State of Uttar Pradesh used a government aircraft for electioneering. 

Nevertheless, his defiant continuation in the post and increased efforts to ensure that the elections reflect the will of the people is notable in a country where paper giants and political opportunists reign supreme. As we go to the polls this Tuesday, it is therefore to him that our thanks are rightly forwarded.