The Political Column

31st January 1999

Post-mortem on a non-election

By our Political Correspondent

Democracy has suffered several body blows since the 1971 JVP insurrection.

The recent election to the Wayamba provincial council was the latest blow - and a disastrous one. Hooligans allegedly hired by some PA elements took the law into their hands threatening voters and making a mockery of democracy.

The irony is that this disgraceful episode was precipitated by the very people who claimed to be the guardians of democracy during the dark era of 1988-89. Monday January 25, 1999 will go down in history as a dark and sad day when state-sponsored mobs stripped the people of their sovereignty and fundamental rights.

At the end of the day, it was clear that all law-abiding citizens had suffered in a situation of lawlessness and chaos for which the PA government must take responsibility.

With the local and the international media exposing the grim happenings at the election, the government's credibility was torn apart by its own acts of commission and omission. But the UNP also must take part of the blame because it had unleashed the culture of violence during the past two decades.

In the run up to the election, there were more than 600 incidents and many expressed concern but none perhaps foresaw the magnitude of the thuggery and rigging that took place clearly under PA protection or patronage on election day.

At scores of booths, opposition polling agents were chased away.

Reports of these and other malpractices were splashed all over the world, sending President Chandrika Kumaratunga's image and credibility plunging. Peace-loving citizens including religious dignitaries and two groups which had got approval from the Election Commissioner to monitor the polls cried foul and called upon the government to hold fresh elections to the province.

An analysis of the election results shows a voter turnout of about 80 percent in the Kurunegala district and 75 percent in the Puttalam district. This is hard to believe. The average voter turn out has been 70 per cent and there was obviously no compelling reason for ordinary people in Wayamba to rush to the polls. Thus the charge that tens of thousands of votes were stuffed into ballot boxes does have a basis. The 80 percent turn-out was in addition to the 47,000 votes rejected by the Commissioner.

Not only the opposition parties, even the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, which is an ally of the PA had also condemned the elections. The SLMC had earlier wanted to go it alone in Wayamba but later decided to back the PA because of the persuasion of President Kumaratunga.

None of the SLMC candidates who contested under the PA was returned to the provincial council. This was so disturbing to SLMC leader M.H.M. Ashraff, who immediately appointed a committee to go into the matter. An SLMC spokesman told this column they could have won three seats if the party had contested on its own. "We wanted to go alone because the PR system was advantageous to us. But having made a sacrifice to strengthen the hand of the President, in turn we suffered," he complained.

However the SLMC was condemning this election not because it could not win any seats but because the party felt PA activists had exceeded all democratic norms and blatantly violated the rule of law during the elections.

SLMC General Secretary Rauf Hakeem said the party was disillusioned with the way the poll was conducted. "It casts serious doubts on the credibility of the government. It is an embarrassing situation to the President," he said.

The incidents were such it won't be wrong to conclude that election malpractices would have materially affected the results and we are worried about our own credibility as a constituent party to the PA," Mr. Hakeem said.

"It has gone beyond all tolerable limits. We cannot just lie down and wait, because it will finally cause problems for the President. We still believe that the President has the potential to solve the ethnic crisis more than any other leader in this country today and we hope that it would not affect her standing in any way," another SLMC top-rung member told this column.

The SLMC met this week in an emergency session to decide on what it should do. Mr. Ashraff came out strongly against the government for the manner in which the PC elections were held. He told friends that most of the ministers were jubilant about their "victory", except perhaps for a few, who felt uncomfortable with the situation. At the Cabinet meeting Mr. Ashraff was seen hanging his head down not uttering a word. He obviously wondered how some ministers could be jubilant over what he possibly saw as a day of shame. Eventually the SLMC decided to issue a statement condemning the polls. It was drafted by former senior state counsel and national list MP M.M. Zuhair. Of course Mr. Zuhair has a soft corner for the government and he worded it in such a way that it was not to the liking of party general secretary Hakeem. He then referred the matter to the leader who had a look at it and amended the draft.

Mr. Zuhair had wanted to defend the government praising the President's advice to the Election Commissioner to cancel the elections if there was substantial evidence of rigging.

Mr. Zuhair's argument was that though there had been lawlessness, it was not enough to declare the elections null and void. However, later, he agreed to go along with the SLMC leader and issued a statement condemning the election.

Mr. Hakeem put pressure on the party to do so, but said they had to word it carefully so that they do not go into a head-on confrontation with President Kumaratunga. If the SLMC expected at least some consolation from the bonus seats, it was disappointed. PA general secretary D.M. Jayaratne had nominated two Sinhala members for these seats. The SLMC is now calling for a PA executive committee meeting to discuss the matter. The statement issued by the SLMC states:

'The SLMC is distressed by the large number of incidents of violence which admittedly took place in the Puttalam and Kurunegala districts on Monday, when the people of Wayamba went to polls. 'The Commissioner of Elections has reported that he was satisfied that vote rigging and other election malpractices had taken place in 221 polling booths which account for nearly 20% of the 1160 polling booths in the two districts. A large number of other incidents of election related violence have later been reported to the police.

'The SLMC is concerned that irrespective of who or which party committed the acts of violence, the credibility of the just concluded elections has become a serious public issue.

'We are however consoled and appreciate the fact that the President herself had taken timely note of the incidents of violence on the day of the election itself and called for an annulment of the polls in the affected areas of the two districts.

'It is however imperative that in keeping with the declared commitment of the President to democracy and free and fair elections she should cause extensive and impartial investigations into the reported and alleged incidents of violence, threats and intimidations which in the public perception had marred the Waymba elections. It is equally important that all those responsible for committing the offences and rigging should be dealt with according to law.

"SLMC is perturbed by the fact that those who violated election laws and resorted to thuggery and rigging have mainly targeted the areas of minority communities like Catholics and Muslims.

"The SLMC is also of the view that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the Commissioner of Elections is provided with the fullest co-operation and assistance to ensure a free and fair poll and that past acts of violence orchestrated under previous governments are no excuse whatsoever for continued violence.

"We wish to take this opportunity of thanking the voters of Wayamba who supported and voted for our candidates at the elections to the Wayamba Provincial Council.

"It is now time for political parties to objectively address their minds to other causes that tempt and encourage politicians to interfere with the democratic election process. In our view the present election laws - particularly the system of casting preferential votes - has also contributed to the election violence and is causing more problems within members of the same party.

"Hence, we call upon the leaders of all political parties to give topmost priority to the question of the urgent electoral reforms that are needed within the Proportional Representation System. Political parties should also recognize that saving the democratic process has become an urgent item on our national political agenda since 25th January, 1999."

Mr. Hakeem told this column it was disappointing to note that PA was messing up things at a time when the SLMC was trying to strengthen the position of the President.

If this trend continues, President Kumaratunga would be looked upon as a weak leader. This will not augur well for the minorities, he said. Already Tamil parties have expressed the view that this government has made the devolution package a mockery.

If they are treating the Sinhalese like this, what justice could we expect from them, the LTTE has asked in a statement. The LTTE also said it could not trust the government since it was trying to rob what was given to the provinces.

Some senior officials of the UNP however reacting to the elections say that the people have lost confidence in the government and there is an outcry for justice and fairplay.

The UNP politicians also claim that though the SLMC is now moving towards condemning the elections, its activists, too, had run wild in Puttalam. They cannot claim complete innocence, one UNPer said.

Another analyst said the Muslim vote which had gone away from the UNP during the past elections had come back. He said the Muslim support for the government had dropped and two Muslims have been returned to the council from the UNP.

The longest serving MP and veteran UNPer A.C.S. Hameed, commenting on the polls said. The government's image had suffered severely because of this election and its boast about the respect for human rights and fundamental rights had received a severe blow.

UNP Chairman Karu Jayasuriya briefed many diplomats, including the US Ambassador on the Wayamba events. The US Embassy is known to be keeping a close eye on the developments, and foreign missions are likely to bring pressure on the government to maintain the basic principles of democracy and human decency.

In Puttalam, a UNP polling agent who refused to budge from his desk was mercilessly assaulted allegedly by PA supporters and a politico from Colombo who reportedly went there to stuff the boxes. The man who suffered injuries was a retired Sub Inspector of Police. When the mob attacked him, some people called the police to intervene. Later, he was taken to the hospital by a UNP candidate. His 7-year old son who was rushing home to inform others about the brawl had fallen into a well. Thankfully he was rescued.

In another incident, a younger brother of a female JVP polling agent was kidnapped by armed gangs on the day of the elections. More than four JVPers were abducted. Almost all the JVP polling agents were sent to Kurunegala with their chief ministerial candidate Bimal Ratnayake who was in a helpless position.

In a similar incident, former DIG M. M. Nizam who contested under the UNP ticket was attacked when he was at home. It is said that a son of a powerful politico in the Mawathagama area was involved in the incident. Mr. Nizam received minor injuries, but later it was reported that an officer from the presidential secretariat had called at his residence and asked for details of the incident.

The officer who identified himself as a press secretary to the President had told the inmates of Mr. Nizam's house that if the person involved in this incident is a son of the said politico the President had vowed to take stern action against him. The President will not allow him to sit in the PC even if he was elected, the officer told Mr. Nizam's family But family members said they had doubts whether such promises would be kept.

On Monday, soon after the polling came to a close opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe summoned campaign managers and coordinators, including Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, Rohitha Bogollagama, Milinda Moragoda and Charitha Ratwatte, for an emergency meeting in Colombo. They decided not to accept the election results owing to the magnitude of violence unleashed. They also decided that the UNP would boycott the newly elected council.

They decided to prepare a dossier outlining all the election malpractices. It will be submitted to the Elections Commissioner.

On the following morning, the Elections Commissioner summoned party leaders and general secretaries to his office in Colombo to determine whether the election results should be anulled.

Mr. Dissanayake told them that according to reports he had received, out of a total of 830 polling stations in the Kurunegala district, 141 had been attacked during polling hours. In the Puttalam district, he said that out of 300 polling stations, 71 had been attacked, making the total 212.

Mr. Dissanayake also said that from three other polling stations, nine ballot boxes had been high jacked while being transported to the counting centre, and some were found burnt.

Depending on the reports submitted by senior presiding officers, Mr. Dissanayake said he intended making an order cancelling the polling at three polling stations of which the ballot boxes did not reach the counting centre. He said he intended rejecting 47,000 votes that were suspected of having been stuffed into ballot boxes.

However, the Elections Commissioner said he did not intend annulling the polling of the centres that had been raided by armed gangs. When the Election Commissoner wanted to proceed with the counting of votes even of these raided polling stations, PA general secretary D. M. Jayaratne supported this view and said he should declare the results accordingly.

UNP representative K. N. Choksy an eminent lawyer, demanded that the Election Commissioner cancel the polling of 212 booths which had been raided by armed gangs. Mr. Choksy citing the Provincial Council Election Act said that there was provision under section 46 (A) for the Election Commissioner to annul the elections of these polling booths.

He also pointed out that 212 out of a total of 1130 polling stations constitutes 18.5 per cent of the total poll and argued that it was adequate enough to cancel the entire elections. He said the officers of the Elections Commissioner's Department had detected 48,000 votes in stuffed ballot boxes, but there could have been much more.

Mr. Choksy demanded that the entire election be declared null and void and that results must not be announced.

The JVP, too, supported this view and so did the two independent groups. The Liberal Party, however, supported the PA's view. After considering the submissions, the Elections Commissioner said he would announce the elections results. In the meantime, a UNP supporter from Kurunegala district filed a fundamental rights application on Thursday, asking the Supreme Court to make an interim order directing the Elections Commissioner not to gazette the results and also to make a final order after the hearing, declaring the elections null and void and directing that fresh elections be held.

The Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice Ranjith Deeraratne, Justice S. W. B. Wadugodapitiya and Justice Asoka Gunawardene granted leave to proceed but did not grant the interim order directing the Elections Commissioner not to gazette the elections results.

Mr. Choksy appeared for the petitioner while Solicitor General K. C. Kamalasabeysan appeared for the Attornery-General. The Court fixed hearing for March 15.

The UNP now is considering a few more fundamental rights applications against the police for not providing adequate security to conduct the elections peacefully. The UNP will also take a series of decisions to compel the government to uphold law and order to restore democracy.

In this context Mr. Wickremesinghe is planning a new campaign. One of the strategies is to hammer the Bandaranaike image and this may not be too difficult just now because of the self-inflicted damage from the PA's own supporters in Wayamba.

It is possible that the President was not aware of the serious degree of violence unleashed. But most analysts believe she could have taken stronger action against those who perpetrated the violence.

The President has now summoned the SLFP central committee to further discuss the incidents in Wayamba.

At the weekly meeting of the ministers, she said there was an orchestrated campaign by certain individuals to tarnish her image.

She said she knew who was behind it and how they did it. Without naming the individual, the President said the person concerned had met with the organisers privately and given them instructions to sabotage the elections.

She said she had already taken a decision on how to deal with them. She said she would take action against anybody who was responsible for these ugly scenes which had embarrassed the entire government. Thereafter, the President asked some of the ministers to go for the media briefing. Few ministers took up the challenge, other than Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle. Minister C.V. Gunaratne too wanted to go there, but the President stopped him saying he should stay back to discuss matters connected to his ministry. The President also told the ministers to take steps to fulfil the pledges given during the election campaign. She pointedly told Minister Indika Gunawardene to accomplish the work he had planned in the Kurunegala district. The President said if the minister could not do it, he could hand over most of the work to his deputy Mahinda Wijesekera.

Mr. Gunawardene in reply said he would prefer D. M. Dassanayake, the SLFPer from Anamaduwa, to take charge of the work in the Kurunegala district. Mr. Dassanayake has been a target of various allegations.

Now that the Supreme Court has made a historic order directing the Elections Commissioner to hold elections for five provincial councils, it is important for the government to rethink any strategy of winning elections by employing thuggery and fraud. Equally, it is important for the opposition to educate the people of this situation as any further instances could well bring about total anarchy in the country.

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