The civil society umbrella group “March 12 Movement” led by the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) will hold an event next month to bring all presidential candidates onto one stage to respond to critical questions put forth by the masses regarding the future of the country. The event will be held on 5 October at the Sugathadasa Stadium. PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi told The Sunday Morning that this initiative by the March 12 Movement was a first of its kind in Sri Lankan electoral politics. “This is a big step for democracy in Sri Lanka as well as electoral politics. There has never before been an occasion where all the major presidential candidates came onto one stage to respond to the burning questions of the country,” Hettiarachchi said. The March 12 Movement was incepted in March 2017 with the aim of electing members who are principles and free from allegations of corruption to governing bodies. The movement is an enterprise of PAFFREL and includes civil society groups, trade unions, artists, academics, and professionals. “The March 12 Movement encourages political parties to avoid giving nominations to corrupt individuals and to encourage the public to vote for public-minded candidates who are committed to democracy,” Hettiarachchi added. Accordingly, there were two main goals in bringing the presidential candidates onto a common platform. “One objective is to get all the presidential candidates onto one forum so that they could respond to questions from masses. We have asked the public to send in the questions. We will pose several of these questions to the presidential candidates so that the masses can see how they respond,” he said. The second objective was to kick off a revolution in Sri Lanka’s political culture to make it more democratic and transparent. “This is an opportunity for us to initiate true change. It is a starting point for us to transform our political culture to make it more inclusive and transparent. This will ensure the presidential candidates engage with their voters more before the actual poll date. It’s a first step for a healthier democracy,” he noted. The movement expects to invite all candidates from the four main political parties for the occasion. “We have officially invited the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the United National Party (UNP), and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). All of these parties have announced their candidates,” he said, adding that PAFFREL would be meeting with the parties to confirm their attendance. In addition, Hettiarachchi said that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) too will be invited despite them not having a candidate, just in case the party decides to field a candidate. Another initiative by the March 12 Movement, the results of “My Dream President” would also be announced on the day the presidential candidates are brought onto a common stage. The My Dream President programme sought to gather views from the public across the country on what an ideal president would be, devoid of party politics. My Dream President was launched in March this year and saw discussions being held with civil society groups, academics, trade unions, and the general public from all parts of the nation to obtain their views on what a model president would be like sans political party affiliations and relations. “We will be publicising the findings of the My Dream President project during the event we bring all the presidential candidates together. This will give the candidates an idea of what the masses look for in a president and what the aspirations are of the people,” Hettiarachchi said. In addition, the March 12 Movement also hopes to have the presidential candidates make a pledge regarding the election and campaigning activities. “We want all candidates on stage to make a common pledge regarding the protection of the environment, safeguarding of the religions of the land, non-use of hate speech or violence, and having a free and fair election overall,” he noted, adding that it would be a disciplined event and not a television debate. “We have invited the media and expect to broadcast it live, but it will not be like another TV debate. No one will be allowed to disturb or interfere with the proceedings,” he assured. Furthermore, he said that the Election Commission as well as senior officials of the Election Secretariat had are also invited to observe the event. “Additionally, we have also invited academics, trade unions, Sri Lanka Administrative Service unions, and other partners of the March 12 Movement,” he added. However, while commending the initiative, Election Secretariat Director General M.K. Saman Sri Rathnayake said that he believes it would be unethical for officials of the Secretariat to attend the occasion. “As those who are organising and conducting the election, I don’t think it is right for us to take part in such an event. All candidates are equal to us, but their policies and promises are irrelevant to us. Those things are important to the voters. What is important to us is how these candidates carry out their campaigning and that we hold a free and fair election,” he said. Furthermore, some 3,000 volunteer election monitors would be part of the audience on that day, Association for Friendship and Love (AFRIEL) Executive Director Ravindra De Silva told The Sunday Morning. “We have trained some 3,000-odd youth volunteers in election monitoring and they will be present during the event by the March 12 movement,” Silva said. AFRIEL is also a member of the March 12 movement.