Sugath Kulatunga

The worst form of tanha is bala thanha the craving for power. Today the deafening baying of the opposition in the name of democracy is nothing but the craving for power. The government is equally strident for the retention of power. This dogfight for power has disregarded the present plight of the nation facing an economic crisis coupled with a food and health crisis. The pithy expression to describe the sad situation is to say that the country is in deep shit.

It is pleasing to see the Election Commission demonstrating their independence by adhering to the letter of the law and calling for nominations for the local government elections. It is what is expected of them. It is for the Parliament to decide whether the country can afford to spare Rs 10 billion to spend on an election at this moment when there are other pressing priories. It is the obligation of the Parliament to exercise their paramount responsibility to ensure that the scarce funds are allocated on a priority basis. It is misleading for the opposition to say that there is money allocated in the budget and there for funds are available for disposal. The treasury does not have a reserve at the beginning of the year to allocate funds. It has to depend on revenue collections during the current year.  

Local government elections are a democratic right of the people, and the people must be given the right to elect their representatives in the local bodies. But it is not a sovereign right of franchise vide the following provisions of the Constitution.

4. The Sovereignty of the People shall be exercised and enjoyed in the following manner :-

4(e) the franchise shall be exercisable at the election of the President of the Republic and of the Members of Parliament, and at every Referendum by every citizen who has attained the age of eighteen years, and who being qualified to be an elector as hereinafter provided, has his name entered in the register of electors.

It is neither a fundamental right. However, the right of franchise is in principle relevant to local authority elections as well.

Regarding the allocation of fund for an election, in terms of Article 148. Parliament shall have full control over public finance and according to Article 150. (1) save as otherwise expressly provided in paragraphs (3) and (4) of this Article, no sum shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund except under the authority of a warrant under the hand of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance.

(2) No such warrant shall be issued unless the sum has by resolution of Parliament or by any law been granted for specified public services for the financial year during which the withdrawal is to take place or is otherwise lawfully, charged on the Consolidated Fund.

There is nothing in the Constitution or elsewhere compelling the Minister of Finance to automatically release the voted funds. It is the accepted practice that MF can delay the release of funds and impose cuts on the amounts approved in the Budget. The recent cut of 5% on all allocations is a good example of the power of the Minister of Finance. It is for the Executive to decide on the priorities of expenditure.

There were no serious objections to the 2017 amendments from even the opposition. It was steam rolled in one hour with amendments brought on all three forms of local authorities. No political party has objected to the amended law of 2017 even up to now. The President who was the prime mover of the 2017 amendment has seen its negative aspects only on the eve of the present election.

Even the JVP which saw the problems of the unclear piece of legislation supported its enactment. During the debate in Parliament the JVP leader AKD said that the public should have a clear understanding of how to vote and and elect their representative and should not go to the poll blindly without a knowledge of how the system works.

A delay in holding the election by a few months is not the death of democracy. It should held only after the ongoing delimitation of the electoral units and the reduction of their numbers and adopting a new law removing the defective and dysfunctional provisions in the present law. All political parties are responsible for this piece of legislation rushed through the committee stage in Parliament with unrelated amendments which were not given prior notice.

There is a debate on the financial cost of conducting the election which is estimated at Rs.10 billion. What is at stake is not only the financial cost but the opportunity cost of distracting the country away from the present multiple crisis. Even in the financial cost the enormous cost of the election campaign to the individual candidates and the political parties has to be considered. The argument of the government that it cannot spare the money for the election cannot be sustained when the government has not shown and prudence in its spending.

The local government elections must be held but the postponement of the election for a few months will not kill democracy in the country. All the contestants are confident that they will have an easy win. The best chance is for the SLPP/ UNP combination provided the new electric tariff hike is not implemented. If Elections are held after imposing the high tariff the government is bound to receive a crude shock. Election for Local Authorities must be held only after amending the present convoluted law. It must be done as early as possible to give the delayed opportunity to the people to elect their local representatives but not to appease the craze of power of the contestants. The suspense of the situation has heightened as the opposition believes that the result of the election could be considered as a mandate not only for a change in the local authorities but a change of government. For many this is the last try which has made them desperate. There is no sign of ordinary citizens who are straining hard to survive showing much interest for immediate exercise of elections. It is hardly a priority for them.

 Let not this bala thanha result in another mayhem the country which is already in deep shit cannot afford. Let the thanha end up in sorrow.

Sugath Kulatunga