| President Mahinda Rajapaksa says he will take stern disciplinary action against any candidate in his United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) who behaves inappropriately or badly in the days leading up to the April 8 Parliamentary election.
The President’s comment came when booing broke out at the UPFA’s inaugural election campaign on Friday, in Getambe, Kandy. Supporters of a UPFA candidate from Nawalapitiya booed when President Rajapaksa greeted former minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama, who is a Kandy district candidate in the upcoming election.
President Rajapaksa extended a welcome to the election candidates on the stage with him. When the President turned to Dr. Amunugama, loud boos and hoots were heard from a section of the crowd.
“Is that supposed to be a cheer?” the President asked the crowd. “Are you cheering or hooting at me, or are you cheering or hooting at Dr. Amunugama? We may expect such behaviour in Nawalapitiya, but I will not tolerate such behaviour.”
The President kept his campaign speech short, and before walking away said he was disappointed at the lack of discipline among party candidates and their supporters. He said the candidates who were responsible for such behaviour should be disciplined.
As the election campaign hots up, election monitoring bodies are calling on party leaders, especially those of the ruling alliance, to address the growing trend of violence within parties.
Intraparty violence accounts for 50 per cent of the total number of reports of violence received by the People’s Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), according to PAFFREL director, Rohana Hettiarachchi.
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| The not-so-happy President and other UPFA stalwarts at the Getambe meeting. |
“We have been informed of 12 incidents of intraparty violence from within the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance, 11 incidents from the United National Front [UNF], and one from another party,” Mr. Hettiarachchi told the Sunday Times. “We also heard of another 10 such incidents, which resulted in 22 persons being hospitalised. Eighteen of them were from the UPFA, and they were assaulted by people in their own party.”
“There are thousands of candidates, over 7,000, so we had expected some violence, but not to this level. Party leaders have failed to maintain order and exercise control over their candidates. One reason for all this is that parties have no proper criteria for vetting their candidates.”
PAFFREL has recorded a total of 81 confirmed cases of assault, threat, intimidation and other acts of violence arising from election activities.
Colombo, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Matale, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Ratnapura and Matara have reported the highest number of cases of intraparty violence. Of these, the biggest offenders were Kandy in the Central province, Badulla in the Uva province, Gampaha in the Western province, and Ratnapura in the Sabaragamuwa province.
“The Central province had 21 such cases, 12 of them from Kandy; Uva province had 13 cases, most of them were from Badulla; Western province had 10 cases, 6 of them from Gampaha, and Sabaragamuwa had eight, six of them were from Ratnapura.”
The race to grab preferential votes is the main reason for intraparty conflict, according to the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV). “Of the 91 complaints against the UPFA, 23 complaints [25 per cent] have been made by party supporters,” the monitoring body said in a special statement. “Five instances of intraparty violence were reported from the Southern Province. In Sabaragamuwa, firearms were used in five out of 12 major incidents. There have been three such incidents from the Eastern province, and two each from the North Central and Western provinces.
“The leaders of all political parties, especially the ruling alliance against which the majority of allegations of election-related violence have been made, should take immediate and effective steps to halt the violence perpetrated by their candidates and supporters, which constitute a clear threat to the integrity of the electoral process and democracy in Sri Lanka,” the statement said.
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| Posters being torn off and others of the same party being pasted on top. |
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| Cutouts right in front of the Chilaw SPs residence. |
All these reports are symptoms of an unhealthy political situation developing, says Dr. Anura Karunatilake, Secretary, Political and Civil Rights, Network for Monitoring Election Violence. “Out of 31 reports of intraparty violence, 23 were reported from the ruling party, and eight were reported from two other parties,” he said. “The bulk of the cases are from Anuradhapura, Matale, Ratnapura, Kandy and Gampaha.”
According to Dr. Karunatilake, former ministers, members of Parliament, and local provincial councillors and their candidates have been directly involved in assaults, intimidation and other acts of violence, including the vandalising of party offices.
“Candidates are trying to dominate their districts. They are not competing, they are intimidating.”
According to election monitors in Kandy, scene of the highest number of clashes, supporters of the three main candidates – Lohan Ratwatte, former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, and former MP S. B. Dissanayake – are constantly clashing, and they have even destroyed party offices.
Meanwhile, clashes continue between the supporters of other election rivals. These include former Ministers Pavitra Wanniarachchi and W. D. J. Seneviratne in Ratnapura; Rohana Dissanayake, Lakshman Perera and former minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon in Matale; former ministers Duminda Dissanayake and S. M. Chandrasena in Anuradhapura, and former minister Mervyn Silva and Sisira Jayasekare in Kelaniya.
In Puttalam district, candidates from the Anamaduwa area allege that outside candidates have joined the fray. Observers say former ministers Milroy Fernando, Priyankara Jayaratne and Provincial Councillor Arundika Fernando dominate, pushing others, such as Indrani Dassanayake, wife of the late Minister D. M. Dassanayake, out of the race.
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