Democracy is best practised when elections are held on schedule

Nominations closed yesterday for one of Sri Lanka’s biggest ever elections to 341 Municipal, Urban Council and Pradeshiya Sabhas. Under the new electoral system and the latest gazette notification on the polls the number of candidates to be elected will virtually double from 4,486 to 8,356.  
Sixty percent of them will be elected on a ward basis while 40 percent will be on the old proportional representation system. This mix is widely acclaimed as a good balance and practised in many 
democratic countries.  More significantly 25 percent of the candidates on the nomination list were reserved for women by law and we hope this would bring about a change because history has shown that without the feminine input, insight and instinct, decision-making could be somewhat unbalanced. 

 
Elections Commission’s Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya, top members of the commission and the provincial council’s and local government ministry’s legal secretary, in a TV debate on Wednesday, clarified various issues regarding the mixed electoral system and other factors. In the audience were students from the Colombo University’s Law Faculty. While welcoming the move to reserve 25 percent of the seats for women they expressed concern over the calibre of the nominated women amid reports that some parties had virtually forced even apparently incapable women to put their names on the list. 
Initially there may be problems like this, but we hope as we go on the women will play an important and skilful role as local council politicians and pave the way for them to come to the national parliament. The most important factor is for the elected women and men also to realise that their primary role is to be servant leaders of the people and not to do business and misuse or abuse their authority as we have seen often in local and national politics.   

Mr. Deshapriya and other officials pointed out that with the closure of nominations yesterday, the Election Commission had wide powers including police powers to ensure a free and fair election campaign and polling on Election Day. Mr. Deshapriya specially reiterated the latest rules and regulations which had been blatantly violated in elections held before 2015 with life size cut outs of one candidate being erected in various parts of the country. The Election Commission Chairman said such cut outs, posters and distribution of pamphlets or other propaganda work could be carried out only at the venue of election rallies and anyone or party violating this or other rules would be dealt with severely by the Commission and the police.   

It was pointed out in the interview that even in 1972 more than 8000 candidates were elected at countrywide Gamsabha elections. The difference was that those candidates were not paid a big salary and given other allowances from the people’s money. In the February 10 election the local council representatives will be paid and we hope they will work for the common good and welfare of all people and for Sri Lanka to achieve its vision 2025 economic goal with the creation of a just, peaceful and all 
inclusive society.   

Mr. Deshapriya said he had one big regret. Despite repeated appeals by him, the government had not passed a law to hold local, provincial and national elections on a scheduled day just as in the United States where Presidential and congressional elections are held on schedule on the first Tuesday of November. Congressional polls are held every two years and the Presidential election once in four years.   

In Sri Lanka the practice has been for the government to hold the elections at a time apparently beneficial to it and we hope the new electoral system with all its positive features will be made even better with scheduled days being fixed for the polls.