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Video: Dictatorship can’t be measured by elections - UNP

03 Sep 2013 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) today said holding elections regularly did not mean that a country’s ruler was not a dictator.

“There are dictators who hold elections regularly. It is the manner, in which they hold elections that determine whether they are dictators,” UNP MP Harin Fernando told a news conference.

He was referring to a statement made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 62nd convention of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in Kurunegala last Monday.

The President said that a dictator was a ruler who did not hold elections and worked according to his own agenda. He said the government was holding elections in the North and therefore nobody could say the government was heading towards dictatorship.

Mr. Fernando once again underscored the importance of independent commissions especially the Independent Elections Commission if the Government was keen to hold free and fair elections in the country.

“The absence of an Independent Elections Commission will mean the absence of free and fair elections,” he said.

Mr. Fernando said the rulers frequently interfered in the work of other political parties and manipulated the members for political advantage. “These are the signs of a dictatorship,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)

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