Polls without pollution

The Local Government elections for 17 Municipal Councils, one Urban Council and five Pradeshiya Sabhas have begun with posters springing up in the city of Colombo in a minor way. It is our duty to put an end immediately than silently watching the pollution of the city. We are pleased and happy that the city of Colombo is turning out gradually to be one of the cleanest and beautiful cities in the subcontinent under the accelerated programme launched by the Colombo Municipal Council without elected councillors.

The budding beauty of Colombo will be lost when political parties with their candidates going all out plastering posters on newly painted and cleaned walls of public properties and residencies of the law abiding citizens, the recently developed roads painted with election symbols and the names of contestants besides polythene flags and cut-outs.

I wish to suggest a few remedies so that the new members will not be responsible for polluting the clean city.

1. Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya should convene a meeting of secretaries of all parties and leaders of groups to point out the seriousness of the violation of the Election Act and if the Commissioner is notified of posters etc by the people he should take immediate action legally, rather than wait till the elections are over.

2. The Police should implement when they are informed of posters or if they notice any posters plastered to be torn off and get in touch with the party secretary for violating election laws. After the Police warning if there are repetitions the Police should take legal action.

3. The election monitoring NGOs should not only perform monitoring and violation but keep in mind of posters plastered on clean walls and loud hailer noise polluting the city.

4. Every party has a few “I-shall-not” pollute candidates but I suggest party secretaries and group leaders to be responsible to increase the few contestants, to all contestants. Before concluding I wish to mention about a candidate who contested a Municipal Council seat-promising no pollution with posters, no polythene flags, no loud hailers noise pollution and cut-outs which will violate the election act, was elected in 2002 obtaining 4,200 preferential votes and in 2006 his preferential votes increased by 40 percent to 7,100 votes.

This is a good example for other candidates to follow.

A would be aspirant to be a member without polluting his electorate and engage in door-to-door canvassing with his literature and personal card; also by post, pocket meetings, by advertising his candidature in the electronic and print mediums.

I hope and pray this Local Government election will be a stepping-stone to non-polluting elections in the future.

- M. Budree Hashim