Hot air over elections and Commissioner of Elections - EDITORIAL

The Commissioner of Elections made it clear to all Lankans that the presidential elections would be held in a timely manner in keeping with Constitutional requirements.
 To him we owe a vote of thanks. Many a citizen had begun to doubt whether elections -presidential or general elections- would be held at any time in the near future, given the number of elections postponed via sleight of hand over the years. 

Even as we pen these lines, our country is going through one of the hottest periods weather-wise. As though this were not bad enough, political party leaders and their followers are also breathing fire at their opponents, adding to the heat. 

We continue witnessing intra-party squabbles in the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and dirty linen being washed in public. The ‘National People’s Power is gaining in popularity. But in the past it has not been able to turn this into actual votes.

With Easter Sunday around the corner past President Sirisena dropped a bombshell a couple of days ago. He said he was in possession of information of those behind the Easter Sunday carnage which rocked the country in April 2019.
Sirisena’s claim evoked anger country-wide and especially among the Catholics. National Catholic Director of Mass Communications Fr. Jude Krishantha in a statement called for the arrest of Sirisena for misleading the judiciary as he had earlier denied any knowledge about the attacks.

Quite naturally all Lankan’s were appalled that the president of the country at the time the atrocities were committed had withheld information from investigating authorities. 
Realising his buffoonery was backfiring on him, the ex-president began adding addendum to his original statement. The outcome however was, the ex president had to eat humble pie and make a trip to the Criminal Investigations Department to record a statement.

In the end Sirisena’s outburst was perhaps, simply a means of attracting attention to his political party, once a dominant force in local politics now reduced to the status of a non entity.
Shortly before ex President Sirisena’s outburst, our immediate past president -Gotabaya Rajapaksa- added to the toxic political hot air, releasing a novel ‘Conspiracy’. Fictitious in character, the novel attempts to lay the blame for his failed presidency, resignation and fleeing the country as the work of foreign agents! 
With elections on the horizon it’s time to cleanup one’s image! 

The ‘king of false fasts’ Wimal Weerawansa two days ago added to the already overheated political atmosphere, accusing the three presidential hopefuls Ranil Wickremesinghe, Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and Sajith Premadasa of pursuing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Indian agendas at the expense of the country. 
The only alternative, according to Wimal was the alliance of his political grouping -the Uththara Lanka Sabhagaya (ULS) as an alternate. The new alliance comprises the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya, the Communist Party of Sri Lanka and the Democratic Left Front. Perhaps he is indicating his coalition will soon be asking for your vote and mine.

It would appear the political kite-flying season has begun. Just yesterday, the ‘Daily Mirror’ in a breaking news story suggested presidential elections would be held in October this year. 
At the time of writing there has been no denial from either the President’s Office, the United National Party (the party led by the president) or the Office of the Commissioner of Elections -the body constitutionally charged with setting the date for elections.
The current president has to his credit stabilising the country at a time it was falling victim to anarchic forces. Basics are now available, rolling power cuts are a thing of the past and medicines, fuel and gas are available today.

Unfortunately all these items are out of reach of many people. According to UNICEF 2.3 million children in Sri Lanka don’t have enough to eat and up to 70 percent of families in Sri Lanka face dangerous food shortages.
In the end all the excitement seems to be generated with the forthcoming election in mind. 
The question is, for whom will the bell toll?