{"id":104318,"date":"2020-07-07T15:59:26","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T22:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=104318"},"modified":"2020-07-07T15:59:26","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T22:59:26","slug":"let-candidates-display-their-preferential-numbers-freely-as-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/07\/07\/let-candidates-display-their-preferential-numbers-freely-as-before\/","title":{"rendered":"Let candidates display their preferential numbers freely as before"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Shylock:
Ay, his breast:
So says the bond: doth it not, noble judge?
‘Nearest his heart:’ those are the very words.
\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026
\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..
Portia:\u00a0
Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,
To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Shakespeare\u2019s play The Merchant of Venice, the vengeful usurer\nShylock\u2019s wicked attempt to settle an old score with honest Antonio who stood\nsurety for a loan given to his friend and fellow merchant Bassanio is thwarted\nby Portia; Shylock demands a pound of flesh cut off from nearest the\nguarantor\u2019s heart, as required in terms of a bond signed between him and the\nfriends in case of the debtor failing to repay it by the due date. Portia, the\nrich lady love of Bassanio, contrives to hear the case herself, disguised as a\nlearned doctor of laws. She skillfully demonstrates that the terms of the bond\ncannot be lawfully implemented if they are adhered to with literal strictness.\nIn her epic judgement, she delivers justice to both Antonio and Shylock so that\nAntonio doesn\u2019t have to die for his friend\u2019s failure to repay the loan by the\nend of the agreed period; Shylock is spared capital punishment for trying to\nabuse the law to take revenge on Antonio, whom he hated. This sort of humane\nresolution of a conflict between the letter and the spirit of the law hasn\u2019t\nhappened in Sri Lanka recently. Ordinary Sri Lankans\u2019 basic human rights have\nbeen  violated for nearly five long years courtesy the infamous \u2018good\ngovernance\u2019 anarchy and its lingering legacy. They are demanding justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anarchy is the antithesis of law and order, which is now being\ngradually but expeditiously restored where possible. This is the fulfilment of\na basic need of government under the parliamentary system of democracy that we\nbelieve we still have. Under this system, the three main branches of\ngovernment, legislative, executive, and judicial, are manned by humans (i.e.,\nthey operate through human agency). Men and women acting in these branches\n(MPs, President, and Judges, and various government functionaries including\nmembers of independent commissions) take moral as well as legal responsibility\nfor their decisions which directly bear on the lives of all the citizens of the\nstate including themselves. They can be relied upon to have a unique bond of\ncultural affinity in addition to natural human empathy with the general mass of\nthe people, something we cannot and do not expect from foreigners. That is why\nwe hate even a suggestion of imperialist foreign interference in our domestic\naffairs, particularly at the  governance level, that involves the\naforementioned three organs of government. Under yahapalanaya, this reality\nappeared not to have been sufficiently recognized. Further, there was a\ncrazy  disjointedness or lack of articulateness between the main branches\nof government, which ultimately made a mockery of democracy and national\nsovereignty. The essential law and order foundation of governance was\nundermined thereby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With election campaigning hotting up, the Election Commission\u2019s\nunprecedented decision to implement the 1981 parliamentary elections laws to\nthe letter has run into controversy because it interferes with the accustomed\nway of electioneering by the candidates.  The 1981 election laws were in\nabeyance or were ignored for forty years since their enactment. There has been\nno complaint during that long period about any particular problems that had\nresulted from their  desuetude,.\nWere these normal times, various reasons could have been offered to justify it.\nThe main reason would have to do with the much needed restoration of the\ndeteriorated law and order situation in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But these are not normal times for the whole world, particularly\ndue to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is more so for Sri Lanka, which is passing\nthrough the most critical phase of its political history since 1948, with what\ncould be seen as occasional stirrings of an attempted return  of\nseparatist terrorism in the north and the deadly arrival of jihadist terror,\nand the global superpower poking around with its own strategic geopolitical axe\nto grind in the form of the MCC agreement. Sri Lankans are anxiously waiting to\nelect a parliament that is capable of working with president Gotabaya. The EC\u2019s\nrole in conducting the election process is an unenviable one, given the\nunprecedented complications that have come up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unacceptable conduct of one of the EC members, \nRatnajeevan Hoole, (as shown, for example, in his advice, as reported in the\nmedia, to members of his own Tamil community in his hometown Jaffna not to vote\nfor the SLPP) has brought that body to disrepute; the utterances and body\nlanguage of EC chairman Mahinda Deshapriya seems to betray unnecessary fears\nabout elections having to be held before the country is declared safe from\nCovid-19. But the government is managing the Covid-19 situation admirably well\nand the EC chairman need not wrack his brain about it. He has also given hints\nof his being a believer in the fallacy of an alleged majoritarian tendency\namong the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community that is peddled by racist\nanti-nationalists, and implicitly expressed caution about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In view of such instances of possible lack of impartiality on\ntheir part,  the EC\u2019s sudden decision to implement some absurd election\nlaws that had remained in abeyance for almost forty years since their passage\ndoes not go down well with the public, particularly with the parliamentary\ncandidates. The stringent restrictions imposed on the free display of their\npreferential numbers are very unfair. But such measures as the strict\nimposition of a complete ban on the abuse of state property for propaganda work\nby any party or individual candidate are very welcome. Yet, this is the worst\ntime imaginable for enacting so far safely ignored, unfairly restrictive, impractical\nregulations relating to the holding of the polls. Why should the EC try to add\nto the difficulties caused by unavoidable constraints slapped on physical\nmovements by health authorities in these dangerous pandemic hit times? At this\nparticular juncture, for Sri Lanka, the holding of free and fair elections in\nwhich each and every adult citizen must feel obliged to use their franchise and\ncast their vote without let or hindrance for whichever party or alliance of\ntheir choice is of paramount importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because, the ordinary voters are set to elect the best\npossible parliament under the circumstances at this historic hour. It will\ndefinitely be a robust parliament filled with a majority of MPs with integrity\nand pluck who are worthy of probably the most inspired, work-oriented president\nthe country has ever got. The already assured sweeping victory of the ruling\nSLPP and the impending utter rout of the opposition that is in complete\ndisarray have rendered competitive campaigning somewhat lacklustre, and\nuninspiring and unexciting like a game of cricket or football between two\nwidely unmatched teams.  Unless the electoral contest is sufficiently\nintense and exciting, the eventual voter turnout is likely to be affected; a\npossible low turnout could proportionately diminish the value of the final\noutcome. This is not good for the  faction that is set to win, but the\nlosing side will like it for obvious reasons. A prominent government party\npolitician has suggested that the EC\u2019s determination to make the polling\nprocess relatively confusing and cumbersome  might be a ploy to ensure\nthis result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elect good, honest, educated, and morally upright people as MPs\u201d\nis not a new slogan. It has been heard at least over the past half a century\nwithout any indication of its being heeded by anybody. This is because the\nvoters have no choice over the matter. Parties nominate their candidates\nsubject to various considerations that have little to do with their moral\ncharacters. This time, it may be assumed that there is a difference. The\neducation and the moral background of candidates must have been taken care\nof  by the nomination committees of the parties, at least to some extent.\nUnder the existing electoral system, people vote for a particular party, unlike\nin the olden days, when widely known respectable individuals were elected to\nrepresent a constituency. Then it was the individual candidate, as much as the\nparty, that was chosen. Today, for getting elected to parliament, a candidate\nmust get enough preferential votes among a number of contending candidates put\nforward by each party for multi-seat constituencies; so naturally there is a\nform of undeclared war among candidates within each political party. Displaying\ntheir preferential number in a striking way for the voters to remember is of\nvital importance for every candidate across the whole range of parties,\nalliances, and groups. EC\u2019s virtual obstruction of this essential and\nreasonable propaganda requirement, through its unfair insistence on following the\nlaw to the letter is going to be particularly disadvantageous for the two most\nimportant types of candidates: the new and the materially poor. Candidates who\nare poor cannot afford expensive media advertising; the little known new ones\nfind it hard to make their numbers stand out among the numbers assigned to\nveterans whose already well known names and previous designations render them\nconspicuous and memorable. So the veteran candidates of every party will not\nobject to the EC\u2019s tough stand in this regard, for it will mean that they have\nalready won at least 75% of the internecine war for preference votes. This\nsituation is most prejudicial to the newer fresher competitors, and also\ncontrary to the generally shared desire among the voters to elect a decent lot\nto the august body. (Both the UNP and the SLPP, please work out the\nimplications of this, and use the opportunity to get rid of the old rogues who\ncontributed to the yahapalana to the detriment of the nation out of pure\nselfishness.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is high time the EC eased this restriction immediately, before\nthe thousands of candidates resort to some other innovative, but problematic\nway to circumvent the formidable obstacle placed on their path. Let\u2019s not\nforget that there are more than one way to skin a cat.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala Shylock:Ay, his breast:So says the bond: doth it not, noble judge?‘Nearest his heart:’ those are the very words.\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..Portia:\u00a0Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death. In Shakespeare\u2019s play The Merchant of Venice, the vengeful usurer Shylock\u2019s wicked attempt to settle an old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}