Questionable Conduct

• Huge disparity in Elections Commissioner’s projected image and performance

By R. Wijewardene

In the darkness of Sri Lanka’s semi democracy, amidst the violence, the abuses and the intimidation that constitute an average Sri Lankan election, for over a decade one man has stood out as a beacon of hope.

A single honest and incorruptible civil servant has struggled against the country’s tsunami stack of  election violations. He has issued countless orders condemning malpractices by all sides and made near infinite declarations urging people to respect the few  democratic norms, standards and regulations that exist in this country.

So devoted  is this man – so determined to uphold Sri Lanka’s long standing democratic tradition that on several occasions he has, in disgust at his own failure to fulfill a near impossible task offered to resign from his post.

However   as a result of the current fiasco surrounding the 17th amendment the President is unable to legally appoint a successor to the Elections Commissioner and  as such has  on several occasions effectively begged the long-suffering Dayananda Dissanayake to stay in office.

Trapped therefore by the constitution and the pleas of the President this lone crusader continues to do his duty as Elections Commissioner. Struggling against enormous odds to keep Sri Lanka’s  elections  free  and fair.

The story is a compelling one – every country needs its heroes, its positive role models  and in a land where major political debates centre around who killed who where and when, Dissanayake has been a beacon of hope.

But like so many  positive stories in the world of Sri Lankan politics the Election Commissioner’s tale somehow seems too good to be true;  and it is.

Dissanayake’s  claims regarding his life as a long suffering civil servant struggling desperately against the corruption around him  are as  bogus as the claims made by any other politician.  And his promises of a crackdown on election  violations have been as hollow as the promises made by the most bankrupt of political animals.

In reality his record is one of dismal failure.  The violations that have and continue to take place under his tenure as Elections Commissioner are without end.

Despite promises  of crackdowns on the abuse of state media and the use of state assets for party propaganda,   despite countless investigations  and warnings,  there has never been a genuine prosecution for election violations. Nor any serious attempt on his part to find out how thousands of permanent residents found to their horror at the last presidential poll that they had no vote.

While the pervasive nature of abuse, corruption and distortion in Sri Lanka’s electoral system is  such that Dissanayake’s  failure to take effective action against violations hardly seems like a major sin — in reality his propensity to turn a  blind eye to the most flagrant  election violations is almost  criminal.

The terrifying visage of Rajzilla — the  60 foot-high grinning Mahinda  cutout that for  weeks loomed out of municipal property at Vihara Maha Devi Park, the appearance of Mahinda money – election handbills posing as 1000 rupee notes  or the use of party symbols on the tail fin of a national airline – Mihin Air seem to have escaped his scrutiny. Also the constant abuse of state media which in the run up to the election has become a 24 hour vehicle of defamation against  everyone and everything connected to the opposition.

The extraordinary SMS that greeted every Sri Lankan mobile phone user on the 1st of January.

The Commissioner failed to act effectively against even  one of these blatant abuses of state power.

The cost of sending 12 million text messages for example (Sri Lanka has 12 million subscribers according to the Regulatory Commission)  must amount to over 12 million rupees. Where these 12 million rupees came from is of course an open question and if as   is likely the President was allowed to send these messages gratis – surely  the same privilege must surely be extended to the other 20 + candidates.

Of course the 12 million texts are just the tip of the violation iceberg and it is hard to travel for more than a few kilometres or watch more than five minutes of state TV without witnessing a violation  of electoral norms.

In fact the sheer number of violations and abuses is such that with a  view to compiling   a detailed  feature on election violations The Sunday Leader requests  the cooperation of its readers who are kindly invited to describe election violations they have seen at the link to this story at  www.thesundayleader.lk or send pictures of offending posters  etc. to editor@thesundayleader.lk

But while we thank readers in advance for their cooperation we also advise them not to get their hopes up as they can rest assured that regardless of any evidence put forward the seemingly long-suffering Elections Commissioner is not going to be  taking action any time soon.