Some reflections on the presidential election

By Prof. Ashley LS Perera

(December 12, Colombo,Sri Lanka Guardian) The entry into politics of the former army chief seems to have caused much consternation among some politicians, academics, journalists and a handful of instigated members of the public. A democracy confers an inalienable right to every adult citizen of sound mind and good behaviour to freely participate in politics, vote and contest at any democratically held election and express his/ her opinion on any matter of public interest. In the circumstances what indeed is wrong in the retired general entering the fray?

A more pertinent question is why hold a presidential election at this juncture when the incumbent president has completed only four of the six year term of office? Besides the drain in resources in terms of money, men and material for a premature presidential poll is quite substantial which the country can ill afford. One may mootly suggest that the cost of the election will have to be invariably borne by the state now or later. The point is that the billions of rupees incurred as costs normally at the end of a six year period will now have to be incurred at the end a four year period which amounts to an increase of costs by over 50% for this singular item of state expenditure. Further the people of this country are already tired of facing several staggered provincial polls held at short intervals within the past two years. One may argue that elections are a means of testing public opinion on issues that concern the public and when held more frequently gives more opportunities to the public to express their stand. This is theoretically true but in practice it would be a very expensive pastime that the country could ill afford. Even in the U.S.A. major polls are combined to reduce costs. The negative social cost-benefit apart what seems incredible is that the government having declared the presidential poll on its own accord now appears to be resenting some prospective candidates entering the contest.

Now that the contest is on it is timely to examine the bona-fides of and the possible voter response to at least the principal contenders. Both the incumbent president and the ex-army chief possess excellent credentials in terms of leadership qualities, drive and force of character. While the former has wide experience in the field, the latter is politically an unknown quantity. However it has to be said that past experience is not necessarily a plus factor. On the contrary it may sometimes prove disadvantageous. It is naïve to assert that the retired general has acquired dictatorial tendencies as a matter of course and will set up a military type of administration to run the country, if elected president, merely because he has had exposure to such training and experience. However the need to instill some measure of discipline as a top down process is relevant to halt the further drifting of this country to the status of a soft state.

The results of elections held in the past suggest that the verdict of the silent majority cannot be easily influenced merely by the gimmicks of the contenders or their supporters. There has always been a high level of uniformity in voting patterns. Even the block vote of the plantation sector at the previous presidential election, failed to impact on the general voting pattern and change the final outcome of the poll. However an examination of the past election results suggest that the voters have consistently outvoted the ruling party in preference for a change except on a very few occasions. It is indeed hard to believe that this is not related to performance. The silent majority has its own peculiar way of evaluating the track record of their rulers.

In a perfect democracy a President is voted to power by a morally self possessed society. He is expected to uphold the society’s conception of justice, but only in the justiciable sphere of social life. Thus the silent majority of the citizens expect good governance through the maintenance of law and order guaranteeing the fundamental rights of every individual and the independence of the judiciary as the first priority. It is felt that there is much to be desired in these respects. Secondly, the pious expectation of the community that the government will take decisive steps to eliminate bribery, corruption and nepotism seems a far cry. The third expectation of the public is an efficiently managed economy where statistics speak rather than politically biased top officials. Most of the pronouncements of these officials on the state of the economy seem to inject humour rather than substance. Fourthly, the community at large detests the numerous privileges, perks, subsidies and concessions granted to elected members of parliament and provincial councils at the expense of the public. Curiously though, even the opposition members seem to be highly supportive of these pecuniary beneficial measures they derive, other than of course, the JVP which has on numerous occasions severely criticized the government on this account.

Ideally the incumbent president should have made use of the remaining two years of his term of office to -;

(a) establish good governance and a clean administration,

(b) focus on appropriate measures to improve the economy through proper fiscal and monetary policies. In this connection the artificial slashing of the interest rates independent of the prevailing economic forces and in the absence of other associated factors of production could only lead to conspicuous consumption and inflation.

(c) eliminate wasteful government expenditure. As a first step in the elimination of wasteful expenditure action could have been taken to reduce the jumbo cabinet to a reasonable size through persuasion or compulsion as the cabinet size has been subject to severe criticism from all quarters. However what is on offer is a presidential election with all its pomp and pageantry

It is not possible to predict how the electorate will respond to the allegations and counter allegations levelled against the contending candidates without proper investigation at the grass root level. It would seem however to the discerning that some of the recent cross - over of individual politicians is apparently based on personal agenda and only carry their individual weights sans a following. The pre-poll victory speeches are nothing but emotional and the rituals of the contending parties. What is certain is that the silent majority will eventually decide one way or the other.

(The writer is former Head/Department of Town and Country Planning, University of Moratuwa, Director of Post Graduate Studies and Senior Professor of Town and Country Planning. Presently an Independent Consultant to several International agencies engaged in multi-disciplinary research studies)

-Sri Lanka Guardian