The Govt. should now work in the best interest of citizens!

This government, now having won not one but 266 local councils is now presented with the golden opportunity to make a transformative shift in this lethargic culture within the government sector. 

The National People’s Power emerged clear victor at the recently concluded Local Government polls, which was conducted after a hiatus of seven years. The party secured 4,503,930 votes (43.26%) and 3,927 seats across Sri Lanka, leading 266 local councils. These include 23 Municipal Councils, 26 Urban Councils, and 217 Pradeshiya Sabhas. During the 2018 local government elections, it was the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) spearheaded by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa that secured 225 local councils.   
Local government elections are considered the foundation of participatory democracy. The local government election, which was scheduled to be held in 2022, was postponed due to the political unrest caused by the economic crisis at the time. The elections were postponed twice in 2023, even after the dates were announced by the election commission.   
People have once again placed their trust in the incumbent government despite several shortcomings over the past few months since it was elected to power. Democratic governance requires a relationship between citizens and political parties. But what people have often seen is a habit of candidates conducting door-to-door campaigns and showing their utmost love towards their voters when an election is around the corner. However, elected officials forget their voters immediately after they have assumed power.   
But this time around, people are watching over this government and its elected officials. People proved their ultimate power in 2022 which forced former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country. People may no longer tolerate the frustrations they have to bear at the hands of political mismanagement. While the government may have challenges in pleasing the public immediately, they certainly have a duty to fulfil their promises as people placed their ultimate trust upon this government.   
A local government election is one that people can mostly relate to. It’s about electing their local politicians to serve their electorates and wards so that people don’t have to go to the political hierarchy to resolve their woes and issues. But for years, local government institutions have become infamous as havens of corruption, nepotism and fiefdoms for the worst elements in politics. But as a political analyst very correctly said, it is the local government institution in your locality that would develop a cordial relationship with a citizen from his birth to death.   
Certain statements made by officials representing the incumbent government disappointed citizens to an extent where they came under much scrutiny at one point. One elected official mixed up the numbers, another official said that journalists who attend the government press briefing should carry a media ID and so on. While it is human for people to scrutinise a government, one must not forget how former regimes that secured sweeping victories became unpopular among the masses at one point.   
It is important to note that the only local government election the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna—a leading party of the coalition to form the incumbent government, won in the history of local government elections in Sri Lanka is the Tissamaharama Pradeshiya Sabha during the 2002 LG poll. They showed how the Pradeshiya Sabha saved money and they even re-implemented the cooperative system. People who visited this PS at the time still recall the efficiency of officials who were employed and how they greeted citizens with refreshments.   
This is quite appealing given the nature of services offered by local government institutions lately. The video of a citizen who agitated at the Thanamalwila Pradeshiya Sabha, destroying property with a chair speaks volumes about people’s frustrations when they walk into local government institutions for various purposes. This individual complained that he had come to obtain his father’s birth certificate but that he had to wait for a long time as the officials were ignoring him and were busy with their own work.   
This government, now having won not one but 266 local councils is now presented with the golden opportunity to make a transformative shift in this lethargic culture within the government sector. Perhaps in time to come, local government services would be something more than a 9-4.30 job (as most government officials rush to catch their trains and buses after 4.30pm) and would be a service that is done in the best interest of citizens! 

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