People have been effectively disenfranchised

By Dr Vickramabahu Karunaratne

(February 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It was reported that the Common Left Platform, consisting of presidential candidates Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne, leader of the Left Front and independent candidate K. Sivajilingam, and supported by the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist), the Socialist Party, the United Workers Party, The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Alternative Group) and Rev. Fr. Yohan Devananda, expressed their deep concern regarding the recently held presidential election, which was concluded on January 26, 2010. While they were concerned over election and the final results, they also expressed their dissatisfaction over the results announced with respect to their own performances.

Here too, they believed that the official results do not present a correct representation of votes they had received. These observations, combined with the environment and practices related to the announcement of results and statements made by the Elections Commissioner and Sarath Fonseka, compelled them to conclude that this presidential election and official results do not represent a democratic popular verdict, of a free and fair election. In the interest of clearing any doubts which bear decisively on the legitimacy of the entire democratic process and the regime and the state itself, they urged that the Elections Commissioner provide the mechanism for addressing these concerns by initiating a process of dialogue and inquiry with the presidential candidates, who feel that they have been victimized. Furthermore, they said that only an open process of sharing concern and a commitment to seeking the facts of the case and establishing the sovereignty of the people without fear or favour, can restore legitimacy and confidence in the institutions of governance.

House arrest

Clearly this was anything but a free and fair election. The results do not represent the sovereign, conscious political will of the people. In order to establish whether this was a free and fair election, one is obligated to penetrate beyond formal observations. May be one is not able to attest as to whether there was wholesale rigging. However, two events cry for attention. First, a statement was addressed to the Elections Commissioner at the time of counting by Sarath Fonseka alleging that he is under ‘house arrest’ and that his life and freedom was under threat, based on allegations that he is a traitor involved in an international conspiracy. He had requested that the Commissioner should secure his safety and freedom; and inturn the continuity of his monitoring of the counting process. Subsequently, Sarath Fonseka stated that he did not accept the election, both the process and the outcome, where there had been gross violation of laws related to the conduct of elections. . He claimed that the election results had been manipulated and that he does not accept the official verdict. Secondly, the Commissioner himself appeared on television to state that he is going to resign once this round of duties was over, and that in several cases the officers in charge of polling booths had been abused, threatened and driven away by certain political forces. He even stated that he worked under stress with his life at stake. Clearly, this admission raises a very serious concern as to the conduct of the election and on the final results arrived at. In effect his speech made the result given by him null and void. The presidential election laws are so tight, that the commissioner has no option, but to come out with the final result, irrespective of his sense of justice. Hence he did not call for an impartial inquiry and seek a re-election. Instead, he went on, without any further ado, to declare that Mahinda Rajapaksa as the duly elected president on the basis that he has received 58% of the popular vote. This is a sheer travesty of justice and fair play. The true facts will no doubt emerge. If there has been any attempt to distort and misrepresent the people’s verdict, it would be a serious and damning crime against democracy. The people will not tolerate such a violation of their sovereignty. In any case, the peoples’ faith in democracy and the legitimacy of the system has been severely eroded.

Fraud

The fact is that the election was a fraud from the very beginning. There was brazen and wholesale violation of election laws prior to and leading up to the day of election. These violations included gross and overwhelming abuse of state resources, including state media, the deployment of the police and armed forces and violent intimidation, abduction and suppression of free expression of views carried out under state patronage. The entire state apparatus was unleashed against the opposition. These violations had been identified by the Elections Commissioner himself.

These serious and fundamental concerns are shared by the Common Left Platform and the electoral alliance led by Sarath Fonseka, and by millions of citizens, who feel they have been disenfranchised. As the legal remedy to this sorry state is distant and unclear, the opposition has no other choice but to appeal to the people to rise in defence of their inviolable sovereignty.