Another ruse?

Friday 28th October, 2022

The government does not seem to have realised the need to remain maniacally focused on the efforts being made to resolve the current economic crisis. It has chosen to busy itself with political reforms. Close on the heels of the passage of a vital constitutional amendment, it has undertaken to introduce electoral reforms and requested Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC). Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has, in a letter to the Speaker, explained why the government has undertaken to introduce electoral reforms. He has highlighted some flaws in the current electoral system.

Why has the government woken up to the need for electoral reforms all of a sudden? Nothing is scarier to a crumbling regime than the prospect of having to face an election. The SLPP has managed to retain its hold on power by manipulating numbers in Parliament, and an electoral contest is the last thing it wants at this juncture. Its newfound ally, the UNP, is also not ready to face an election. Thus, the SLPP and the UNP will use every trick in the book to avoid an electoral contest.

One can only hope that the ongoing efforts to introduce electoral reforms will not further delay the Local Government (LG) polls. The Justice Minister has requested the Speaker to ensure that the PSC to be appointed will complete electoral reforms anent the LG institution within two weeks! This is a tall order. Perhaps, his request is aimed at countering the Opposition’s claim that the government is all out to postpone the LG elections on the pretext of introducing electoral reforms. But the fact remains that the PSC the government has in mind will be able to ask for more time, making the electoral reform process drag on until the cows come home. This, we have seen in the past, and those who are currently at the levers of powers, have a history of postponing elections for political reasons.

A situation similar to what is unfolding was witnessed during the early stages of the political marriage of convenience between the UNP and the SLFP after the 2015 regime change. The leaders of the Yahapalana government were aware that they would have to part ways and take on each other at the expense of their unity if an election was held. They therefore did everything in their power to delay elections, and even amended the Provincial Council Elections Act for that purpose, in 2017. But their plan went awry because the LG polls had to be held in April 2018; a few months later, the UNP and the SLFP fell out, and President Sirisena threw in his lot with the Rajapaksas, having failed to destroy them politically. The current alliance between the SLPP and the UNP will suffer a similar fate if the LG polls are held early next year. This is something the government will go to any extent to avoid. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa’s fear that a surreptitious attempt is being made to oust the incumbent Chairman of the Election Commission is not unfounded.

One of the reasons the government has given for its efforts to introduce electoral reforms is that the Proportional Representation (PR) system discourages decent, intelligent and capable persons from contesting elections and has stood unscrupulous elements with the wherewithal in good stead. It is a common misconception that the first-past-the-post (FPP), or single member plurality system, ensures the entry of decent men and women into Parliament. One may recall that a large number of political dregs fielded by the UNP at the 1977 general election held under the FPP system were returned, and they included cattle rustlers and bootleggers and thugs. Some decent candidates were also elected, but they were the exception that proved the rule.

The Justice Minister’s criticism of the existing electoral systems is valid, but all the problems blamed thereon could be sorted out overnight if the political parties care to nominate only decent candidates to contest elections. The issues that the government is purportedly trying to solve with the help of the proposed electoral reforms are bound to remain unless the political party leaders reform, and refrain from fielding the lowest of the low in politics to contest elections. It behoves the Opposition, pro-democracy activists and the media to remain Argus-eyed and do everything possible to ensure that the government will not undermine the people’s franchise on the pretext of introducing electoral reforms. A regime that fears elections is a danger to society.