Salute the Sri Lanka democracy

The political debate during the elections, as published in the media, appear to be in tune with healthy democratic process, practices and traditions.
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By N.S.Venkatraman

(December 16, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka which was till recently viewed as a country facing an internal war with part of the territory held by the rebels , now look much more vibrant and forward looking. This has particularly been so , due to the fact that there would be a Presidential Election immediately after the cessation of an internal strife in the country , that has caused the loss of hundreds of lives and great misery to everyone. It requires enormous confidence in its strength and destiny, for any country to immediately go for national election after undergoing such bitter internal conflict.

Perhaps, the world opinion would not have found fault with the Sri Lankan Government if it had sought to postpone the elections by an year or so , citing the need for rebuilding the war torn region of the country. One should salute Sri Lanka for its admirable strength of confidence and conviction in its spirit of democracy, as it goes for the Presidential Election.

The fact that the former Chief of the military has resigned the post and ventured to contest the election for the post of President is typical of any vibrant democratic society. He has given up a prestigious and powerful post to contest in an election where he would not be sure of the final verdict, thus taking a calculated risk. We have seen military Generals in several Asian and African countries who have tried to stage coup to attain power. But, here is a General, who has entered into election fray and is willing to subject himself to the judgement and mandate of the people. Nothing can be more democratic than this.

The political debate during the elections, as published in the media, appear to be in tune with healthy democratic process, practices and traditions. Even a fairly well established democratic country like India have many un savoury developments during the elections , though the basic democratic system in India is well intact. Therefore, there is no need for undue concern even if the exchanges between the contesting political parties become a little more harsh. Even electoral debates in the U S Presidential elections have often tended to border on personal attacks and the Sri Lankan debates in the election appear to be not worse in this respect.

In recent times, there have been many international criticisms that journalists in
Sri Lanka have been subjected to harassment by the authorities. It is true that the Sri Lankan government have not answered such criticisms effectively and may have even ignored them to some extent. This can be considered as an avoidable blot on the image of democracy in Sri Lanka. It appears that during the electoral debate that is now happening, the issue of the plight of journalists in Sri Lanka in the recent strife torn period have not become a subject of debate. It would have been far more healthy if the contesting Presidential candidates would recognize this issue and go to some extent to reassure the journalist community and the media personnel that the Government would be far more democratic in dealing with them in the post war period. It would have also been very appropriate if the Government would immediately release the journalists from any pending litigations or from prison if any one of them happen to be in the prison cell.

It would also be appropriate if during the electoral debate, some re assurances would be extended to the Tamil population living in the Jaffna area, who have suffered enormously and some firm action plans would be announced for the debate. As we would see in the media reports, such overwhelming feelings of consideration for the suffering Tamil population have not been expressed.

All said and done, while minor corrections may still be required , the democracy in Sri Lanka is now firmly evident and Sri Lankans should be proud of this.

-Sri Lanka Guardian