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| Wednesday, 31 March 2004 |
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Politics | |
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| Civil Society silent on key election issues - Zuhair President's Counsel and UPFA National List nominee M. M. Zuhair yesterday expressed disbelief at the silence of the Civil Society on the emergence of key issues of concern such as the withdrawal of candidates following killings, mainly Tamils, the regretful role of some private TV channels in the run up to the elections, the heavy advertising campaign by the UNF defeating the objectives of Article 104B (5) (c) of the Constitution, the political partiality of the CMEV and PAFFREL funded by foreign governments to monitor the elections, while only the issue of the role of the state media had been pursued with great vigour by some organisations. Speaking at a meeting with a group of undergraduates in Borella, Zuhair said though incidents of murder at the on-going elections are lesser in number (06) at this point in time, compared to the previous General Election (14), the withdrawal of candidates who had signed up their nominations is a blow for democracy and deserves the broadest condemnation, particularly by those concerned with the functioning of the state media in the conduct of free and fair elections. Private TV channels had been for days, running footages of matters concerning President Kumaratunga's family, with little or no relevance to current issues before the country. The Freedom Alliance, on the other hand, did not respond by showing the gruesome happenings of July 1983 directed against the Tamils by a previous UNP regime or the horrendous violence unleashed in 1989 on the JVP by the UNP. In addition, a private TV channel kept repeatedly announcing falsely that a Freedom Alliance government will prevent Muslim females wearing their traditional dresses and Muslim public servants will not be granted leave to attend the weekly Friday prayers. These telecasts were in violation of the Guidelines issued by the Commissioner of Elections. Furthermore, World Bank Country Director Peter Harrold was falsely quoted by the Daily Mirror of 20 March, with a lead story in its business page, which Peter Harrold in a reply still to be published in the Daily Mirror described as 'highly inflammatory, misleading and inaccurate'. While the words 'State Media' includes the ITN, TV and the Lake House print media, the AFP News Agency and two dailys of 30 March, described the appointment of a Competent Authority, which was limited only to the SLBC and the SLRC as 'CA appointed to the State Media', leaving the ITN and Lake House staff in a state of confusion. These are obviously misleading reporting by the private media, which seriously affect the conduct of fair elections. The Commissioner of Elections has failed so far to issue at least a warning to the private media, resulting in the unfair coverage, continuing without restraint. At least, one political party contesting the elections in Jaffna had accused PAFFREL's local coordinators monitoring elections as LTTErs and that the conduct of free and fair elections would be adversely affected. Though the Commissioner of Elections agreed to release the names of the main local monitors of these organisations, on a polling division basis, the two organisations have so far failed to publicise their list. We regret the silence of the Commissioner of Elections on all these matters of vital concern to the country. |
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