Ending polls violence
It was reported in the newspapers yesterday that the
Government has decided to pay compensation to all victims of
election violence at the just concluded Provincial poll.
Government Ministers at a news briefing stated that they
would evaluate all incidents and assess the damage before
deciding on the compensation.
Recently President Mahinda Rajapaksa also paid compensation
to all victims of political violence at the 2005 Presidential
elections. A majority of them were UNP supporters and therefore
loyalties did not figure in the payment of compensation which
was a salutary feature unprecedented in our elections history.
Earlier it was the practise for only the victorious party at
elections to compensate partymen. While paying compensation to
victims of political violence is laudable what is required is to
stamp out election violence as a whole.
We are only treating the symptom without delving into the
root cause. One cannot hide from the fact that election violence
has been common currency in our national polity. Its
institutionalisation commenced in 1982 with the infamous
referendum. Since then violence accompanies every election and
compensation paid to victims of political violence albeit on
party lines.
However no efforts have been made to tackle the problem of
election violence. Besides such compensation can only beget more
violence as the perpetrators would have no qualms of inflicting
the maximum damage knowing their victims would be looked after
by the State. In the end the it is the public who has to take
the tab.
What is necessary is taking measures to discourage violence
and obviate the need for compensation. The Government should
necessarily take cognizance of what this (compensation) entails.
To the perceptive observer this no doubt would smack of an
acceptance that election violence is part and parcel of the
country’s election culture. A wrong message is sent to the
outside world.
The authorities should desist from treating election violence
in Sri Lanka in the context of an occupational hazard.
Compensation could only aggravate things. It would certainly
undermine democratic institutions if election violence is
treated as matter of routine.
What the authorities should do is take measures to instill
the in the public the whole concept of democracy so that its
finer points would be grasped by one and all eliminating the
chances of violence.
Democracy should be promoted as a system that underlines
healthy political rivalry where one agrees to disagree without
taking recourse to violence. This is the hallmark of all mature
democracies as seen recently in the US Presidential Primaries
where the cut and thrust of political debate was the dominant
feature.
Violence and coercion are unheard of in such polities where
voters are provided the chance to make informed decisions. It is
too much to expect Sri Lanka to make an overnight change to
adopt these values and systems that are practised in the more
mature democracies in the West.
Indeed even in India which is a boiling pot of ethnic
cultural diversities elections by and large are violence free
and this in a country whose literacy rate is much lower than in
Sri Lanka.
All political parties should join hands to effect this
transition to bring the country on par with mature democracies
in the world.
Law enforcement agencies should be strengthened and given a
free hand to stamp out election violence which would act as a
deterrent against such conduct. There is no point in the two
major parties blaming each other for the present state of
affairs.
What is needed is a well mapped out strategy to minimise
violence during elections. In the past we did not have election
monitors coming to this country to supervise elections as things
proceeded smoothly. Elections were peaceful affairs in the post
independence era and was even looked forward to by the populace
as a welcome diversion from the meandering slow pace of life in
those spacious days.
Things have changed drastically with the present PR system
exacerbating the problem. The time is ripe for all concerned to
make a determined effort to arrest the decline. It therefore
behoves on both major parties to work collectively work towards
exorcising the genie of election violence from the national
polity enabling the country to stand on par with mature
democracies in the world. |