Was it a free and fair election?

Having read various pronouncements by organisations and people who should know better, I am writing to correct a serious misconception. I was present in the Kandy District during the recent campaign in Kandy, Kadugannawa, Gampola and Nawalapitiya and I am aware that the election was anything but free and fair. Hundreds of people were fed from an ‘official residence of importance’ on several days of the week Is this free and fair? Or are the people who say it was free and fair, both deaf and blind? This was a blatant violation of the Election Law.

Early in the campaign, an UNP office was burnt in Murutalawa, in the Kadugannawa area. Again both in Pilimatalawa and Mahaiyawa, the poorest of the poor were threatened by gun trotting goons saying that their homes would be burnt and they would be killed if the government lost the election. Is this free and fair?

On Election Day very early in the morning two polling agents for the UNP on their way to the polling booth were assaulted near the Isipathana temple in Weligampola in the Nawalapitiya electorate. The assailant was a man called Maithripala and the assaulted were Walter and Manju. The UNP candidate managed to put them back, but Walter was badly injured.

Near Galaboda Tamil Vidyalaya, a government supporter called Rohana Bandara and other thugs chased away Tamil voters and didn’t allow them to vote. The same thing was done in Inguruoya by a government supporter called Dhammika Karunaratne accompanied by thugs.

Again at Nawalapitiya Central College supporters of the government prevented voters from casting their vote with threats of assaults and also actually assaulting them. At Soysakele, near the polling booth a crowd of government supporters gathered and threatened voters, intimidating them.

In Udugama in the Gampola electorate they assaulted the driver of a van in which two women were travelling. They also assaulted one of the women — Ajantha — and used raw filth on the other whose name is Priyathi Goonetilleke, a member of UC Gampola.

The worst incident was when some government supporters came into the office of the UNP candidate when she was out in another area where trouble was reported, smashed up her office, assaulted the counting agents who had come there to go for the count to Kandy and stole their passes to enter the Kachcheri. Among those assaulted was a 50 year old woman called Agnes Margaret. Are all these incidents free and fair?

All these incidents were reported to the police. In some of the earlier incidents, police went to the spot, but as they left, the problems started again. In the incident relating to the UNP office, although the police station was close by, they delayed to arrive at the scene, and although they knew exactly what took place, they later entertained a false entry from those who had committed the assault. None of this could be called free and fair.

One cannot fathom the mentality of the young men who assaulted a middle-aged woman, probably the age of their own mothers. Being drunk is no excuse for such brutal and unforgivable behaviour. One can only think that they were inspired by a leader in the area who assaulted his own mother before her death some years ago, and she had to be hospitalised.

It is a shame that some, including sections of the media prefer to bury their heads in the sand to please the powers that be because of sheer fright and make false pronouncements that the election was free and fair. The state media particularly, the electronic media was used to the maximum even on the eve of the election when there was a ban on campaigning.

As long as the Constitutional Council is not appointed and there is no Police Commission, the government will continue to use the police and the state media as if it is their private property. I do not see any point in the opposition fighting elections till these are duly appointed.

It is up to the religious leaders of all religions to see that the government does this. The gains made by the troops in the war must be applauded, but it must be remembered that when the UNP lost the elections in 1994, all these areas that are now claimed to have been got back were in the hands of the Wijetunga-Wickremesinghe combine. It was the SLFP government that lost these areas to the LTTE of which the present head of government is also a part.

It is a shame that both politicians and sections of the media make people rejoice about attacks made on the minorities and also killing them. I am afraid I cannot rejoice at the killing of anyone because they are all Sri Lankans. This is indeed a very sorry state of affairs.

As a father, I feel I must suggest ways and means by which we can stop this violence in politics and in life, as many decent people will leave our country if this state of affairs is allowed to continue unabated.

Firstly, all leaders of political parties must choose candidates who are educationally qualified with at least a degree from a recognised university. A lack of education encourages bad behaviour, violence, revenge and a negative attitude of winning at any cost, no matter who, one tramples on. This is a bad example for the young who will think that this is the only way to success.

Secondly, no person who is involved in cases of murder, robbery, dug abuse and rape should be given nomination by any party. Leaders must make inquiries to find out how those who did not own even a bicycle, now own several valuable properties, and are sending their children to international schools, and own Duty Free Shops although they make speeches saying that they have no income and therefore don’t pay Income Tax?

This is the only way that clean, fair and free politics and elections can be held. Another reason that fosters disunity is the preferential vote. Candidates are not interested in promoting the Party or increasing its vote base. Each one goes for the party vote fighting among themselves to get a larger vote. This results in parties getting more and more disunited causing more friction and infighting. All this is ruining our country and chasing away professionals, the learned and intellectuals whom we can hardly afford to lose.

I appeal to all leaders of political parties to do something before this volcano they have created, erupts making our country even more of a hell than it is at the moment.

Just two days before the Central and North Western Provincial Council elections, the Commissioner of Elections appearing on TV made his views regarding the Independent Election Commission. Answering a question raised by a journalist, he said that the powers vested in him in his capacity as Commissioner of Elections are not different to the powers of the Independent Election Commission.

On the other hand these commissions which will be set up by the Constitutional Council will certainly provide an opportunity for the polls to be conducted in a democratic manner. Even though the above two elections were held in an atmosphere where there was little or no pre-election violence, they cannot be called free and fair elections, due to various reasons. I would like to ask the Commissioner of Elections whether he could reject the order of the President to hold an election, under the present constitution.

The 1978 Constitution has been in force for the last 30 years and if experience has shown that it has flaws, then it is understandable.

I do not agree with the comments made by the Elections Commissioner since statements of this nature would only make the general public lose hope in the Independent Election Commission that has still not been set up. And mind you the Commissioner is making his pronouncements while he himself holds the post of Elections Commissioner. It could also be construed to mean that he is discouraging the setting up of the Independent Election Commission.

I wish the Speaker of the House and the leaders of the minority parties immediately agree on the member to be nominated by the minority parties so that the Constitutional Council and consequently the Independent Commissions could be set up without further delay.

I also wish that officers holding important public positions refrain from making such statements as it is very clear that they are playing into the hands of politicians who have vested interests.

The Sri Lankan government is rapidly recovering terrorist territory in the North and East of Sri Lanka. The question is, are they committing a fatal mistake of equating territorial gains with victory? Have we disturbed a hornets’ nest? Are they (terrorists) not buzzing around angrily attempting to sting with a vengeance? Can we stop them?

Could the attack on our cricketers be a covert plot between international terrorist networks? Did we thoughtlessly allow them to walk into the jaws of the ‘epicenter’ of terrorist activity in Pakistan? It is really shocking that anti terrorist intelligence networks at national, regional or international level, if they do exist, have not anticipated and prepared for such attacks.

It is indeed amazing how governments can be ignorant of or display callous disregard to the threat of international terrorism by prioritising international events connected to sports, entertainment, tourism etc. at the expense of human life. It is easy to blame the military intelligence of Pakistan for not foreseeing such a heinous crime. However, no one nation can be held truly responsible for such international crimes, as terrorist organisations are not constrained anymore by national borders.

It is blatantly obvious now that terrorist organisations support and cooperate with each other using sophisticated technology and communication systems in achieving their common objective of destabilising the international status quo, which they consider inimical to their interests. It is indeed regrettable that world leaders are slow to see the ‘writing on the wall’ and join hands in taking urgent action.

The only way that international terrorism can be genuinely addressed is to ensure that the breeding grounds for terrorists are rapidly eliminated. Undoubtedly, the teeming slums of the developing world which house the majority of the populace are hotbeds of crime.

It is time that the United Nations focuses hard on the issue of global terrorism through a concerted effort, in ensuring the establishment of international anti terrorism intelligence networks. Eliminating terrorism cannot be achieved only through fighting it head on by military means, but by concurrently seeking longer term solutions to address global poverty related issues such as marginalisation, inequity and injustice which are rampant in the developing world.

It is common knowledge that corrupt regimes who desire to hold power perpetually are the guiltiest in fostering terrorism, as they are responsible for siphoning off scarce national resources away from development and poverty alleviation towards sustaining their ruthless regimes. In this scenario, civil society must play a more prominent role in demanding good governance, accountability, transparency and the right to dissent in ensuring that governments do not take them down a path of self-destruction.

It is the sacred responsibility of the intellectual elite of a nation to display their wisdom and leadership in guiding the destinies of their countrymen who are subject to such vile deceits and manipulation.

In essence, what the nation needs right now is more wise, brave and good men to come out of a state of complacency and fearlessly lead the way towards national peace, unity and prosperity.

The Director General of Pensions has taken a unilateral decision to deduct Rs.50 from all pensioners without their consent, to purchase a land in Ramboda to put up a Holiday Home for pensioners.

In the first instance, the Director General of Pensions does not have the authority to make deductions for any project without the consent of the individual pensioners, and the Accountants of the pension branches in the Divisional Secretariats have no right to make the deductions without the consent of the individual pensioners. However, such deductions have been made, which shows the ignorance of the public servants concerned with regard to correct administrative procedures.

At this rate the Director of Pensions will go on making deductions as and when he wants, which is a breach of administrative procedures.

Then again, can a public servant whether he is a head of department or not, purchase land for any project without the approval of the Treasury or the Ministry of Public Administration? Has Cabinet approval been given for this project? Can a fund be launched for the purpose without the approval of the Treasury or the Ministry of Public Administration?

Has not the Director General of Pensions contravened Administrative and Financial Regulations by deciding to launch a fund and also to purchase a land? Worse still is the unilateral decision of the Director of Pensions to collect funds from the pensioners for the project.

The so-called ‘holiday home’ for pensioners will be of no use to the pensioners because it is far away and is in a place too cold for the pensioners to make use of. It will in the end come to be the monopoly of a few top public servants and politicians and political pensioners. The ‘holiday home’ will be misused in the long run. It will go the way the Pensioners’ Holiday Resort in Kelaniya has already gone.

The Ministry if Public Administration should stop the project and take disciplinary action against the Director General of Pensions for acting in contravention of administrative and financial regulations and also for being ‘authoritarian.’ Cannot we expect a better public servant to administer the Pensions Department?

The pensioner and the Pensioners’ Associations should protest against this unauthorised deduction from the pensions and call for a refund as a deterrent against such deductions in the future.

It is with profound sadness that I offer my sincere condolences to the family and to your staff on the loss of your dear and fearless Editor-in-Chief, Lasantha Wickrematunge, whose untimely and brutal death has left a huge void in the media world.

It takes great pride for someone as me, who is of Sri Lankan origin living abroad for the last 30 years, to know that to this date there still exist true, patriotic sons and daughters of Mother Lanka, who would lay down their lives for truth to live on.

Since I have been closely following the goings on in Sri Lanka, especially since Wickrematunge’s untimely demise, the way the Sri Lankan Government, as well as those responsible to protect law and order, carry on their responsibilities leaves a very bad taste in my mouth and a sense of shame and disgust, that the once "Dharmishta Society" we knew Sri Lanka as, has now become a "murderous society."

It truly surprises, shocks and disgusts me to know that a country with so many security checkpoints and armed guards at every few feet on any roadway in Sri Lanka, could not prevent such a barbaric act, nor after the fact, even try to apprehend the murderers, especially since this terrible act of violence took place right under their watchful eyes, and that too, in broad day light.

Although it is evident to all of us, as to who is responsible for this cowardly act of violence against an honest and respectable human being, we all know that sooner or later history will certainly repeat itself. At such time it would be rather interesting to see, that the forces behind such acts of brutality being brought down to their knees. Saying that, by some sheer luck, if justice will not be served to such folk on this earth, they are sure to face it when they come face to face with their Maker, no matter what religious beliefs or observations, such people may or may not have.

Until such time, may his soul rest in peace and those of us who are still among the living, hope that the power of the pen will always prevail.