“The basic issues that remain throughout the election was the abuse of power by all authorities due to the executive presidential system accompanied also by the enormous abuse of resources by the state leading to unprecedented levels of corruption.”…………………………………………........................
By Our Political editor in Colombo
(January 28, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The election in Sri Lanka ended yesterday and while the official result was announced declaring the incumbent president, Mahinda Rajapakse, as the winner the common candidate for the opposition, retired general, Sarath Fonseka, rejected the result. He stated to the media that the election was rigged, violence was used throughout the election, there was heavy corruption evident throughout the election, the media was abused in favour of the government candidate contrary to the election laws and there was enormous use of state resources by the government candidate. He told the BBC that while he was leading the election with 1.4 million votes, according to the reports he received, suddenly the results were reversed. He alleged that there was heavy tampering with the counting of the ballot.
Though the election commissioner, Dayananda Disanayake, declared the official result as the incumbent president as the winner, the commissioner also in the most blatant language declared that he was not in a position to carry out his duties with freedom as required of his office. He went on to say that he and his officers were under unbearable pressure and that the situation degenerated to such an extent that it was no longer possible to guarantee the security of the ballot boxes. He spoke about humiliation of and threats to his officers and that the cooperation that is required by his office, as required by the 17th Amendment to the Constitution had not been forthcoming.
Disanayake spoke particularly of the abuse of the state media. He said that under the law he was required to ensure that the media is not abused during an election and for that he had the powers of making regulations and monitoring the situation. As he found that there were blatant abuses he appointed a competent authority with consultation with all media agencies, who initially promised cooperation. However, as this cooperation was not forthcoming he finally withdrew the competent authority. He went on to say that it had come to the point where he no longer cope with the extent of the pressure that was being exerted on him and besides, he had been in the officer for ten years and, given his age, these pressures had become unbearable. He said that he would finish the official work relating to this election during the coming few days and that he no longer wishes to have anything to do with this officer. It is in this manner that he pointed out a problem relating to the failure to appoint an election commissioner in terms of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.
The paralysis of the public authorities in Sri Lanka is not confined to this election. The situation that prevails relating to this matter is well known and has been known as the issue relating to the implementation of the 17th Amendment. The government under President Rajapakse has not complied with this constitutional provision and took no steps to ensure the appointment of the Constitutional Council. In the absence of the Constitutional Council the entire public authority system is under serious paralysis and as a matter of policy the Rajapakse regime does not want to alter this situation or to implement the 17th Amendment.
With the challenge to the presidential election results there will be a continuing crisis of confidence of governance in Sri Lanka. The President himself, in talking to the media following the announcement of the election results declared that all citizens of Sri Lanka are equal before the law except for the president. This statement is no surprise because the peculiar interpretation of the constitution of 1978 was used to give the president a place about the law. This was pointed out by all the critics and previously the government agreed to this position and declared it as part of its election manifesto for 2005 as well as for 2010 that it will reduce the position of the executive president to a namesake institution. However, it is most unlikely that this promise will be carried out. Under these circumstances there is a tremendous obstacle for the existence of constitutional government and the prevalence of the rule of law in Sri Lanka due to the president standing above the law and being able to do whatever he likes while ignoring the legal and constitutional provisions. The very conduct of the election demonstrated that an election could be conducted and carried out without respect for the basic legal framework.
The basic issues that remain throughout the election was the abuse of power by all authorities due to the executive presidential system accompanied also by the enormous abuse of resources by the state leading to unprecedented levels of corruption. The allegation of corruption surfaced as the major issue of the problem in Sri Lanka which rose to extremely high levels of abuse to the extent that the very use of state resources in any sphere could be under challenge and suspicion. This issue is no longer possible to deal with within the present political climate. Thus, corruption will remain a major problem within the state within the years to come.
What would be most worrying are the continuity of human rights abuses and the violation of the right to freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. The common candidate for the opposition has openly written to the election commissioner stating that there is a threat to his life and in speaking to media he declared that in the likelihood of a threat to his life the president and the Secretary of Defense would be responsible for the outcome. In a period of this nature where the legitimacy of the government is questioned in terms of the validity of the election result and where there are accusations of enormous corruption it is quite likely that an atmosphere of suspicion will prevail throughout the country.
The disappearance of a senior journalist, Prageeth Eknaligoda, of the LankaeNews during the run up to the election has signaled the resurfacing of attacks on journalists. Despite of efforts by the family and the international community which have highlighted the case the government has been unable to provide any information on his whereabouts.
In fact, the government has virtually denied any attempt to find out about his security by stating that perhaps the disappearance might have been self generated. Media organisations have pointed out that in the past the government has engaged in this type of excuse when journalists have disappeared in the past and this indicates a lack of responsibility on the part of the government where security of media personnel is concerned. Meanwhile two well known websites have been blocked to users in Sri Lanka and there are fears among the opposition political activists and also human rights organisations that there will be retaliation against them in the days to come. Thus a situation of suspicion and tension has once again has resurfaced in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile in all the areas where the minority Tamils is the majority the government has lost support during the election. This is also seen as a possibility for the reemergence of attacks by minority groups.
All in all the ultimate result of the election seems to have generated a situation which is likely to ignite continuous political instability within the country.
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