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Early General Election: A question of will over ways?

26 Jun 2022

 
  • Even if Govt. allocates funds for polls, fuel crisis will hamper polls: EC
  • Concerns over fuel issue, free and fair polls, risk of violence
  • Polls have been held in Sri Lanka under far worse conditions: Uyangoda
  • Country can manage finances for polls but may impact IMF talks: Moramudali
  By Skandha Gunasekara   Amidst calls for a Parliamentary Election to be held, experts opine that Sri Lanka is both financially and socially ready for a General Election, which is expected to bring about the stability and credibility needed to manage the country’s economic recovery – despite contrary views held by the Election Commission (EC). As the economic crisis drags on, there has been an outcry by the public and civil society groups as well as Opposition political parties for a snap General Election to establish a new Parliament with a mandate to manage the multiple crises and enact vital reforms. Punchihewa lists problems However, Election Commission Chairman Nimal Punchihewa asserted that there were several obstacles at present to holding elections, starting with the lack of fuel. “There are several problems. One is that even if the Government decides to have an election and manages to allocate funds to conduct an election, the problem arises whether there will be fuel and other resources needed for the elections. Even if there are funds available for the election, there must be fuel to buy with that money. A large sum goes to purchase fuel for an election. During the last election, Rs. 300 million was needed for fuel alone. This time it’ll be three times that amount because fuel prices have increased,” Punchihewa said. The Election Commissioner also said that the current social conditions were not conducive to have a free and fair election, noting that the hardships being faced by the masses would not allow for an informed decision-making process when selecting a candidate to vote for. Punchihewa also claimed that there was the danger of violence occurring during the election period and at polling booths. “The third issue is that there could be a danger at the polling booths considering the current unrest in the country. It is not the same situation that was there when the last election was held. We cannot guarantee that the Army can step in and provide security. We saw what happened during the ’88/’89 elections. We have also seen in the recent past that even the military has been unable to control some instances of violence, with the violence on 9 May being a good example,” he claimed. The EC Chairman also noted that a parliamentary resolution alone was insufficient and that the President must consent to holding an election. “Even if a majority in Parliament votes or passes a resolution in favour of conducting an election, the President must give his approval. Without the President’s approval, an election cannot be held. A Supreme Court judgement during the 2018 constitutional coup determined that the President has the discretion in deciding whether to go for an election or not.” Uyangoda pushes for polls However, senior political scientist and academic Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda pointed out that elections had been held in Sri Lanka during far worse conditions than the current economic crisis, questioning the statement by the EC Chairman regarding a conducive environment. “Why does the Election Commission Chairman say that there isn’t a conducive environment in this country to hold an election? There is no violence in the country. I don’t think people suffering due to the economic crisis is a reason to not have elections or postpone them. Elections have been held during the war in war-torn regions. It is clearly an excuse by the Election Commission Chairman. He should be impartial but I don’t think the Election Commission is all that impartial.” Commenting on the need for fuel, Professor Uyangoda made note of the fact that the international community would be more than willing to assist Sri Lanka with fuel stocks to carry out an essential democratic process such as Parliamentary Elections. “There are international actors who are very influential on Sri Lankan matters now, especially regarding elections, because elections are necessary for some kind of democratic stability. So if fuel is necessary to conduct an election, then there is always the possibility of getting international support for the supply of fuel for the election. I don’t think international actors will say no to that because they are also looking for a government which has popular support and also legitimacy. There is the worry – that this Government does not have legitimacy.” Prof. Uyangoda opined that both the Police and armed forces were more than capable of ensuring peace and security on the ground to conduct a free and fair election. “The lack of security or possibility of danger is an exaggeration, unless of course some interested parties create violence. But that is why there is the Police, military, and armed forces to maintain law and order at a time of election under the guidance of the Election Commission. Elections have been held in Sri Lanka under very difficult circumstances, but Sri Lanka is actually at the moment quite peaceful. I don’t think there is empirical evidence to suggest there is no peace in the country. Of course, there are individual incidents of violence but that is not an excuse not to hold elections. I think the only reason not to hold elections is the fear that the Pohottuwa will lose its majority in Parliament and that fear comes from the Pohottuwa and its well-wishers.” Prof. Uyangoda went on to say that it was the ruling party that was reluctant to hold elections even though elections were essential to establish social and political stability in the country. He pointed out that the SLPP maintained an overwhelming majority which now lacked legitimacy and did not hold the public’s trust. Sri Lanka has the means: Moramudali Meanwhile economist and University of Colombo lecturer Umesh Moramudali speaking to The Sunday Morning said that elections were within the financial means of the Government. “The country can manage finances somehow because it is an essential need and most of the resources come from domestic sources. Of course, there will be a difficult situation with fuel and other imported products, but otherwise we can afford it because the Government can allocate a budget and do it.” Nevertheless, Moramudali said that the biggest concern was that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could be negatively affected if a government was not in place and that elections should be conducted after significant progress in the negotiations had been achieved. “My main worry is that it will be very difficult to have an election right now until the IMF negotiations are concluded and a staff level agreement is entered into at the least, or we make significant progress in the debt restructuring process. This is important because you need to have a functioning government to finalise these negotiations, particularly the IMF staff level agreement where a sitting finance minister must be there to sign off whatever agreement we want to enter into. The longer this process is delayed, it also means that bridging finance and other matters also get dragged on.” He said that from a budgetary angle, conducting elections would not have an impact on the budget deficit. Moramudali also opined that fresh elections could assist in garnering international support with the establishment of a new Parliament and government. “A new Parliament would reflect what people need because Parliament is supposed to represent the people and what people want from a new Parliament. It will give a message to the international community that Sri Lanka is facilitating what people want. Right now, we don’t have a properly functioning government with a Prime Minister who has the mandate to be in the position, so it will be better to have a prime minister who has been elected.” He opined that elections were what the people were demanding and that it was the Government’s duty to ensure finances were ready, to adhere to public sentiment. “I personally think that we want an election; there is a call for an election and clearly people are not satisfied with those who are in Parliament right now so the demand for an election is fair and the Government must listen to public sentiment and support it financially. Despite the difficulties, the Government can do it. Finances can either be allocated via the proposed new budget or even through a supplementary estimate via the Parliament.” Will fund somehow, says Treasury Secy. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana said that funds would be made ready if the Government decided to go for an election. “If the Government has decided to conduct an election, then we will have to fund it somehow. We will have to find the money. As the Ministry of Finance, we are compelled to follow a decision of the Government to hold elections,” Siriwardana said.  

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