News
Don’t turn “citizens into consumers” of election propaganda campaigns: Election Commission
View(s):- Senior govt. officials to be summoned to be warned of public funds being misused to promote candidates
By Damith Wickramasekara and Sandun Jayawardana
The Election Commission (EC) is to summon senior government officials next week to inform them not to allow public funds to be misused by political parties and/or candidates for election propaganda activities in the guise of various programmes.
Accordingly, ministry secretaries and heads of other government institutions will be summoned, Elections Commissioner General Saman Sri Ratnayake told the Sunday Times.
The Election Commission office. Pic by Priyankara Samaraweera
Mr. Ratnayake said various programmes are being carried out by different political parties and are being used to promote certain candidates / political parties. They include construction work, road repairs and opening of completed projects. Many projects are being hastily launched while those that have already begun are being fast-tracked so that they can be declared open before the upcoming presidential election. As a result, many such projects are substandard and a waste of public funds, Mr Rathnayake emphasised. “It is government officials who will have to face the consequences for such actions taken during election periods,” he added.
Taking one example, he noted that some ministries have organised carnivals during the election period. “These can still be used to promote a particular party or candidate. In the end, the public complaints come to us.”
Mr. Rathnayake insisted that such programmes amount to attempted bribery of voters in an effort to turn “citizens into consumers” of election propaganda campaigns.
When the EC summons senior government officials, it will explain to them that politicians are using such programmes to promote themselves using public funds, the Commissioner General of Elections stressed. “We will inform them not to allow public funds to be misused in this manner and to immediately complain to us if they get any information of such activities.”
The EC’s move comes after President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake this week turned down a request by the Commission to issue written instructions to government officials to halt state-sponsored development and welfare programmes which the EC said was violating election law and therefore amounted to “illegal activities.”
EC Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake had written to the President’s Secretary drawing his attention to complaints that state-sponsored development and welfare programmes are being used to promote political parties / candidates. The letter had also noted that activists from various political parties have directly met with the EC to protest over such activities.
The EC Chairman had pointed out that election monitors, political parties and members of the public who submitted these complaints are of the view that such programmes are part of a project to promote a candidate for the upcoming election.
In his reply Mr. Ekanayake had said that the government’s development and welfare activities are part of the programme it has entered into with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the country’s economy. He had stressed that the government is not prepared to stop these programmes and push low income families, who are already struggling owing to the economic crisis, into further despair.
The President’s Secretary has informed the EC that given this situation, he is not in a position to interpret the government’s development and welfare programmes as “illegal activities” as per the Chairman’s letter and that he is unable to issue written orders and instructions to government officials to halt them.
The EC had earlier stopped Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa from conducting his “Husma” and “Sakwala,” programme which distributes medical equipment to hospitals and IT equipment to schools respectively. SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara wrote to the Commission this week complaining that while the EC had even stopped the Opposition Leader from carrying out “social welfare services that have no connection to his election campaign,” it had so far been unable to stop any propaganda programmes being conducted by the government misusing public funds.
The SJB General Secretary’s letter has listed a series of state-sponsored programmes being run by the presidential secretariat and government ministries, questioning if the EC can guarantee that the programmes are not being used for propaganda activities targeting the upcoming election. Mr Madduma Bandara has emphasised the importance of the EC acting to ensure a level playing field for all candidates.
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