Feb 8, 1999

Charges of large-scale rigging mar the ruling People's Alliance victory in a key provincial election.

By Chulwansa Sirilal with bureau reports

It was an election that Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga's ruling People's Alliance (PA) needed to win badly -- but not the way it did. Last week's council polls in Wayamba (local name for the Northwest Province) saw the PA winning 30 of the 52 seats. But allegations by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) about large-scale rigging and intimidation of voters by the PA have undermined the validity of the exercise and taken away from the gains of the ruling alliance.

Of the eight provincial councils, the terms of two assemblies are yet to be completed, while Wayamba -- which completed its five-year term under the UNP -- went to polls on January 25. Elections to the remaining five councils were to be held last year but when the Government postponed it, the Opposition appealed to the Supreme Court. On January 27, the court ruled the Government's decision "unconstitutional" and said the elections had to be held in February.

The Wayamba elections were meant to gauge the ruling party's prospects in the general and the presidential elections due next year. Kumaratunga also requires to pass constitutional amendments devolving more powers to councils as part of the north-eastern peace process but can't do so owing to the PA's thin majority in the 225-member Parliament. Though she has been contemplating a snap poll for a while to break the deadlock, she recently indicated that she would like to complete her term. The Wayamba and other five council elections to be held next month would show the way the winds were blowing.

But the charges of electoral malpractice have a cast a shadow over the PA's credibility to hold free and fair polls. Opposition parties and independent monitors point out that the scale and magnitude of the rigging was unprecedented even for an election of local nature in Sri Lanka's troubled past. Perturbed by the reports, the President suggested cancellation of voting in areas hit by violence, saying it was difficult to hold fresh polls. Meanwhile, she got several of her ministers to issue strong denials about the elections being rigged.

The election law as it stands can theoretically result in a ruling party flagrantly violating the law, winning elections and staying in power. Since the election commissioner has little powers, the only remedy is the courts, where cases could drag on for years.

While UNP chief Ranil Wikremesinghe has termed the Wayamba polls as "a murder of democracy", the victorious PA cadres blame it all on a UNP-hatched conspiracy. Given the charges and counter-charges, the upcoming council polls would surely be in for a closer scrutiny.

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