පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ගෞරවය ස්ථාපිත කිරිමෙහිලා නව කථානායකවරයා ඉදිරියේ ඇති අභියෝග
Anura Bandaranaike, an opposition member, has been elected Speaker with government support as Parliament declines. Ivan urges him to have ballot rigging at the last election investigated by a select committee or commission and the guilty expelled, to champion an Indian-style election commission, and to introduce a code of conduct for members. He should enforce the assets and liabilities law and make declarations cheaply available, open Parliament and its committees to electronic media, and bring funds such as the President’s Fund and Samurdhi under the Auditor General.
සිදු වූ මැතිවරණ දූෂණ ඉදිරියේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව නිහඬ නොවිය යුතුයි
Although the President pledged to give no posts to anyone involved in electoral fraud or violence, many leading offenders have been rewarded with cabinet posts. The editorial argues that future fraud can be prevented only by punishing past offences, criticises the opposition for staying silent about the organised rigging of the last election, and proposes a parliamentary commission of inquiry to expel the ‘rotten eggs’ so that their dishonour is not shared by every member.
In the name of the democracy, please
The executive presidency split the state power that had been concentrated in parliament, and a large part of it now sits with a directly elected president. Parliament is nonetheless still the country’s supreme political institution — and this is an argument addressed to its new Speaker.
නිදහස් හා සාධාරණ නොවන මැතිවරණයක්
The editorial says the parliamentary election showed the true measure of Sri Lankan democracy. The caretaker government gave out tens of thousands of jobs, state land and public funds for campaigning. The Elections Commissioner, lacking real powers, succeeded only where there was no violence, and says he cannot annul results even in the 17 electorates a monitoring body found grossly corrupt. Where opposition agents were driven out and officials kept silent, stuffed ballots were counted, entrenching the idea that an election won by force is legitimate.
ස්ථාවර ආණ්ඩුවක් පිහිටුවීම අසීරුයි
Ivan calls the October 2000 poll the biggest ballot plunder in parliamentary history, yet the People’s Alliance won only 107 seats and lacks a majority even with the EPDP. He compares the 1994 arithmetic, notes the Muslim Congress’s resentment after Ashraff’s death and his National Unity Alliance’s four seats, and warns that EU observers’ findings could hit aid or bring sanctions. The JVP emerged strong and disciplined, the UNP was complacent, and the Sihala Urumaya was routed.
Donor reaction can compound matters
Winning the parliamentary election somehow was a condition of political survival for the PA, and above all for the President and the presidential system. National and international pressure for a clean election was greater than ever before, and the methods used were autocratic and violent anyway.
කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයක් පත්වූ පමණකින් ස්ථාවරභාවයක් ඇති නොවේ
The government has formed the largest cabinet in the history of Sri Lanka’s Parliament, but with only 116 members it lacks a working majority and a small storm could bring it down, while the President cannot dissolve Parliament for a year. Ivan argues that the best course is a temporary all-party government built on consensus for a programme of democratic reform, since an electoral system rotten with violence and ballot plunder no longer commands public trust.
Will democracy survive at crucial elections?
For democratic politics this parliamentary election will be decisive: whatever democratic freedom is left depends on how it comes out. The Elections Commissioner means to act forcefully and the EU observers are working more systematically than before — and it remains to be seen whether that is enough.
ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදයේ පැවැත්ම තීන්දු කෙරෙන මැතිවරණ
Ivan calls the October 2000 parliamentary election decisive for whatever democracy remains. The UNP introduced institutional violence but could at least retreat under pressure; the People’s Alliance won the North Western poll by open plunder without remedy. He welcomes unprecedented pressure from unions, temples, churches, the Elections Commissioner and EU observers, but argues the courts offer no recourse, since Sarath N. Silva took over Karu Jayasuriya’s rights case against ITN and Lake House and sent it to bodies tied to Mangala Samaraweera.
නිදහස් හා සාධාරණය කොයිබටද
As the Alliance for Democracy ties yellow bands on voters’ wrists, the President has run an advertisement pledging a free and fair poll ‘as in six previous elections’. Ivan says this would make the North Western poll and the 1999 presidential election fair, likens it to J.R. Jayewardene’s referendum, and lists jobs, loans and land handed out after dissolution. He details violence in Anuradhapura, Kandy, Kegalle, Puttalam and Matale, where police shot a JVP protester, and warns that victory by force lays the ground for rebellion.