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Walking the talk

Editorial(14)DailyMirror- Editorial

Everybody agrees with DIG Gamini Navaratne when he says it is not an easy task to remove the propaganda material of some 7600 candidates contesting polls. However one may also agree that if a strong message is sent to candidates that strict action would be taken against those who violate election laws, the police would not have faced this ordeal.

It is nothing but the conviction that one can put up propaganda material and go scot-free that had made Sri Lanka a visual nightmare for everybody these days.

So nobody is surprised that 185 alleged law breakers are still roaming around freely.

One certainly can’t recruit additional persons for the police merely for election purposes and make them jobless at other times.

According to the DIG Navaratne the police have deployed mobile patrols, placed road blocks and sent additional police teams to areas where candidates have a strong presence. It was also reported that the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake had allocated Rs. 22 million for the Police Department to remove posters, cut outs and banners.

And all this money could have been saved if the right message was sent to candidates through proper channels. If a system was introduced to hold party leaders accountable for the candidates’ conduct some progress would have been made in the direction of disciplining candidates. Right now the leaders of the parties or alliances just keep mum as they themselves continue to flout laws.

If this is not enough one hears how some candidates have started FM radio channels violating regulations of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

One wonders what kind of punishment should be meted out to the persons who run Kattankudi FM and Hisbullah FM. And the same law breaker it is learnt has made Kattankudi a virtual eyesore with posters.

All these are indicative of a culture where a strong message has been sent to the relevant quarters that respecting the law of the land is not a pre-requisite to be a representative of people; that it is ok to hoodwink people and win elections through illegal means. Once they get elected it is no surprise that these representatives resort to all kinds of unethical and unlawful means to retain their positions and privileges.

The re-introduction of first past the post voting system may help reduce the competitiveness of the parliamentary polls. However in order to reverse the trend of uncivilized campaigning it is mandatory that the party leaders set an example for their team members.

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