Dead man walking!

Thursday 12th January, 2023

A failed regime that fears elections and tries to sabotage them is a danger to a democratic society. There is hardly anything that such a dispensation does not do to cling on to power. The incumbent SLPP-UNP administration is all out to delay the local government (LG) polls in a bid to avoid a crushing defeat.

On Tuesday, the government played what it considered its trump card in a desperate bid to postpone the LG polls. The Cabinet of ministers made Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Neil Hapuhinna, try to override the Election Commission (EC) and order the District Secretaries not to accept deposits from prospective candidates for the LG polls until further notice. Director General of Election Commission Saman Sri Ratnayake, to his credit, lost no time in ordering the District Secretaries to carry out the EC directive in respect of accepting deposits and nominations. The Opposition threatened to stage street protests against Hapuhinna’s letter. Thankfully, the government got cold feet and had Hapuhinna withdraw his letter. Its abortive attempt, however, amounts to an admission of defeat weeks ahead of the polls!

The government has sought to justify its efforts to delay the LG polls by claiming that there are no funds for elections, and the EC is divided on the timing of the polls. President Ranil Wickremesinghe met the members of the EC last week, and claimed thereafter that they had not been able to reach a consensus. But the EC insisted that its members were speaking with one voice.

President Wickremesinghe has come under heavy fire for summoning the EC members because he is a party leader himself. He has said he will remain neutral during the LG elections. But it is doubtful whether the discerning public will buy into his claim.

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who is also the Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, has sullied his reputation. He, too, stands accused of trying to interfere in the affairs of the EC.

While the SLPP-UNP administration is doing its darnedest to delay the LG polls, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya seems to have given away the plot twist, as it were. He has told the media that the government is determined to rationalise its expenditure. Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena has claimed that the government is hard put to raise funds for essential expenditure as it is under international pressure not to print money! Is the SLPP-UNP combine, in a last-ditch attempt, planning to have its ‘expenditure rationalisation’ plan ratified by Parliament to delay the LG elections?

The sugar tax scam has caused losses amounting to Rs. 16 billion to the state coffers. Will Siyambalapitiya, and Bandula explain why the government has not taken any action to recover this amount from the moneybag responsible for the scam?

Hapuhinna should not be allowed to avoid legal action by simply withdrawing his letter. What he did at the behest of the Cabinet amounts to a willful violation of the Constitution, and legal action should be instituted against him for that offence. It is incumbent upon the EC to ensure that he faces the full force of the law so that other state officials will not carry out illegal orders given by politicians.

The unholy mess Hapuhinna has got into by trying to implement an illegal order should make all other public officials sit up and take notice. They will run the risk of facing legal action if they seek to humour politicians by carrying out the latter’s illegal orders. There is a misconception that public officials have to implement all Cabinet decisions. Those who carry out illegal orders that the Cabinet issues do so at their own peril.

Some election-monitoring outfits are calling for Hapuhinna’s resignation. One cannot but endorse their demand. However, the politicians who got him to do what he did should not be allowed to save their skin by throwing him to the wolves. The entire government must step down for trying to sabotage an election and deprive the people of their right to vote.