---

The saying “When in Rome you must do as the Romans do” is the most famous exponent of conformity, an adage that politicians around the world have embraced - some in rare instances to further commendable trends like ‘Ministerial Responsibility’ and some in the continuity of more common trends like corruption. Why the ‘Miracle of Asia’ is more susceptible to the latter than other countries has been subject to much debate, and the overall conclusion is to attribute it to a lack of moral fibre (if such a thing exists) or having it robbed by power. Having adopted this philosophy more so than most countries in its political sphere, it has escalated to a point where political power is a synonym of corruption.





The derivatives of the umbrella term ‘corruption’ entail violence, dishonesty, intimidation and bribery to name a few. The extent to which all these elements prevail in our society has manifested itself to a point which has warranted political apathy amongst the people. The very laws established to regulate ‘free and fair’ elections have been disregarded with impunity, or manipulated to one’s advantage without fear of sanction or any repercussions. All it takes is a five-minute conversation with an election monitoring body to learn that there have been 118 cases with regard to educational institutes being used as election offices, 120 cases of illegal party offices, 22 of threats and intimidation and 43 of bribery and undue influence preceding the upcoming Provincial Council elections.

Although inter-party violence isn’t uncommon, the proliferation of this impunity has taken a novel turn and has encroached on territory that has not yet been chartered into by politicians however corrupt; the intimidation of one’s own party members, more so than the opposition, to abstain from campaigning via ‘thuggery’. In the most recent turn of events regarding the elections, the Kesbewa electorate has been subject to more trepidation resulting from the alleged monopoly caused by Labour and Labour Relations Minister Gamini Lokuge’s son-in-law, disallowing any other candidate to canvass or campaign for the upcoming elections. The abuse of political power already available to him as a means of keeping all other candidates at bay has resulted in a host of complaints being levelled at him even by members of his own party.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror the leading elections monitoring bodies in the country shared some of their views and insights into the incident.

Keerthi Tennekoon

(Executive Director -Campaign for Free and Fair Elections- CAFFE)

There is a lot of political clout exerted in the Kesbewa area by Minister Gamini Lokuge’s son-in-law. The police and elections officials were unable to implement the law adequately


“There is a lot of political clout exerted in the Kesbewa area by Minister Gamini Lokuge’s son-in-law. The police and elections officials were unable to implement the law adequately to the extent where the Elections Commissioner had to send a special team to the area to investigate and look into the matter. The two senior election officials who were sent as representatives of the complaint offices were oppressed with abusive language. We heard the Divisional Secretariat in Kesbewa had to be shut down for a while for the first time ever. This is the gravity of the situation, where loyalists of the candidate come and put up posters and people are too scared to complain. It is quite visible if you walk into Kesbewa, where there are hardly any posters or billboards of any other candidate. We requested officials other than the police to be deployed in the area to resolve the issue because it seems even the Police have their hands tied.”

Rohana Hettiarachchi

(Executive Director- People’s Campaign for Free and Fair Elections – PAFFREL)

It is very rare that people complain against others in their own party. The Elections Commissioner’s people also got attacked by this Minister in a public meeting

“The Ruling party and the opposition are both complaining about this issue, it is very rare that people complain against others in their own party. The Elections Commissioner’s people also got attacked by this Minister in a public meeting, paying no heed to the Commissioner, the party Secretary and election monitoring bodies. We are going to lodge a complaint to get the necessary attention to this issue. We vehemently condemn it when politicians resort to such measures because it leaves no room for a free and fair election. He should not have questioned the Commissioner’s decisions at the grass root level. There are several instances of election law violations and we have submitted them to the Human Rights Commission and are planning to tender them to the Bribery Commission as well. In most of these cases the Commissioner takes prompt action so we are happy, but when there is no adherence to his direction then there is a serious problem. We feel people outside of the police must get involved, although the police are duty-bound to carry out these duties, these things happen when strings are pulled.”

Lakshman Nipunarachchi

Western Provincial Council Candidate (JVP)

I have noted the imbalance in propaganda. The father comes and distributes ‘pol pala’ to everyone in the area and hosts extravagant luncheons at his expense

“This is essentially a problem within the UPFA. To be honest I haven’t had to deal with any situation of oppression but I have noted the imbalance in propaganda. The father comes and distributes ‘pol pala’ to everyone in the area and hosts extravagant luncheons at his expense. I was informed of an instance where an Assistant Elections Commissioner working in the Divisional Secretariat was scolded in filth and then subsequently intimidated with death threats, which is why he is silent now. It is he who has been summoned to the elections office in Colombo. This is how the government uses its political muscle”

Niroshan Padukka

Western Provincial Council Candidate (UNP)

This is an internal crisis, and hasn’t affected us in this context, although we have been subject to much oppression at the hands of the OIC in the area

“This is an internal crisis, and hasn’t affected us in this context, although we have been subject to much oppression at the hands of the OIC in the area who produced many barriers by disallowing us from campaigning fairly. I learned that there was an incident involving one of the Assistant Election Commissioners which painted a clear picture of how things were working so far.”

Gamini de Silva

Western Provincial Council candidate (UPFA)

No incident like this took place within the premises of the Secretariat. Election laws are violated by many, but to a much lesser degree this time because of the Elections Commissioner’s initiatives

“I myself have not lodged any complaints and don’t know of anyone who has. I am going about my business without concerning myself with others’ problems”

 

Nilantha Kalukapuarachchi

Divisional Secretary, Kesbewa

No incident like this took place within the premises of the Secretariat. Election laws are violated by many, but to a much lesser degree this time because of the Elections Commissioner’s initiatives.


I know of an incident where the Labour Minister high-handedly scolded an officer at a meeting in the Labour Department, but that isn’t related to this. The Elections Commissioner did however send police to the complaint office in the Divisional Secretariat.”

Placing speculation at rest and clarifying doubts surrounding the issue, highly placed sources in the Elections Commissioner’s Department had this to say:
“The area was dominated by Gamini Lokuge’s son-in-law. There was an incident where he had spoken harshly and in abusive language to an election official recently, but the situation is under control now.

The issue was discussed at the party Secretaries meeting and now the area is under more scrutiny after the incident. We have a lot of evidence by way of the complaints received regarding the issue. We have sent officials to deal with the matter as is required.”