Local Government elections

Once again elections are round the corner. This time people will be electing their representatives to their local government bodies. Most of them were to be dissolved yesterday night. The only exception being those bodies in the North for which elections were held recently and administrations are now functioning and those local government bodies in areas where the Cricket World Cup matches would take place. That includes Colombo, Kandy, Hambantota and few others.

The rationale for the latter exclusion is to ensure as peaceful atmosphere as possible for the benefit of the large influx of tourists who are expected during the World Cup season. In fact, the decision is said to be a response to a request by Sri Lanka's World Cup winning Captain and Parliamentarian Arjuna Ranatunga.

There seems to be a huge interest in the election as witnessed by the unusually large number of applicants who wish to contest. The SLFP headquarters have received nearly 10,000 applications from around the country. The other parties too may be facing a renewed enthusiasm. The UNP is presenting a united face at present in order to attract the voters at the forthcoming elections in an attempt to reverse the series of misfortunes it faced at repeated hustings.

The JVP seems to have decided to go it alone, in an attempt to test its actual strength for it had been benefiting from the vote base of 'friends' too long.

This local government election is significant for several reasons. It is the first islandwide local government election since the end of the three-decade old war. It is being held in a relatively more peaceful and tranquil environment. As a result the themes and slogans for the campaigning also will be distinctively different. It is hoped that the voters and the candidates and political parties could concentrate more on issues of local significance.

The politicians would, however, love to hang on to issues and non-issues of a more general nature. The Opposition would be sure to capitalize on the cost of living and other issues which in their opinion could draw the voters to their side. The Government, on the other hand, would like to get the support of the people at grassroots level for its development level. The Mahinda Chintana has given pride of place to the development of the rural areas. Its philosophy is to develop the country through the development of the village.

Another salient point of the forthcoming local government poll is that it could be the last one held under the proportional and preferential systems.

Though there was much talk of changing the current electoral system it had not come to pass before the date in which the extended term of the local bodies lapsed. Since there is general agreement on the proposed reform among the major political parties it is hoped that the Bill would be passed in the not too distant future enabling future elections to local bodies to be held under the new system that the Bill would authorize.

Incidentally there is also the possibility that the Elections Commission would be set up under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution which would pave the present Elections Commissioner to retire. Hence the forthcoming election could be the last held under his supervision and control.

Since the country will enter the election mode in a few weeks a word of caution needs to be said.

The heightened political acrimony could lead to breaches of law. Hence, it is up to the law enforcement officials to see that laws, including those governing the elections are not violated with impunity by politicians or their supporters. Past experience shows that violence may arise from intra-party rivalry as much as from inter-party rivalry.

Much of this violence could be traced to disputes over publicity material such as the display of cut-outs and banners in public places in violation of the law. Political parties and leaders of independent groups contesting the elections have a big responsibility to prevent such violence erupting, especially in view of the fact that parties with vested interests are there both here and abroad that want to tarnish the good name of the country. As usual there will also be a plethora of election monitors, both local and foreign with their own political agendas swarming the country. It is also time to monitor the monitors.