The first election-related killing of a humble voter, a mother of five from the deep south, should normally be shocking. But then, we are not living in normal times and such violent deaths are accepted as part of electioneering in Sri Lanka. That it had to happen in the President's own pocket-borough of Tangalla makes it doubly unfortunate.
Everything seems to have been done to hush up the fall-out with compensation paid at the speed of greased lightning, so as to avoid a 'political funeral' and the Opposition making capital over her dead body. The crime committed was a heinous one. But soon though, the poor woman's death will be forgotten, relegated to a mere statistic.
One would have expected the Government to move swiftly to apprehend the culprit, and the conspirators, sending a clear message to all and sundry, particularly their supporters, that shooting at opposition activists is not accepted, and that whatever the stakes, the end does not justify the means. Instead, it was a 'carry on regardless' signal. Not to be outdone, the opposition indulged in a shooting to death of a government supporter at Madurankuliya in Puttalam. As the Presidential Election nears, and by all accounts the contest seems likely to be a close one, fears are mounting that the violence will escalate.
The Elections Commissioner had expressed his exasperation over the conduct of political parties and the manner in which the police were ignoring his appeals. Powerless, all he can do is lament to visiting delegations in the hope of ensuring a free and fair election. Right through the tenure of this Parliament (2004-2010), the elected representatives of the people have opted to keep the status-quo, unable or unwilling to give the Elections Commissioner wider powers to crack the whip.
In the years when the country had a non-executive Head of State, the president would summon the political leaders and get them to sign a joint statement appealing to their workers to refrain from acts of violence against fellow citizens and public property, and the police to act impartially in ensuring law and order. Such appeals perhaps fell on deaf ears, and political leaders turned a Nelsonian eye to what was happening, but at least they went through the motions of making such an appeal, and it did have some deterrent impact.
Today, in the absence of a non-Executive President, and with the Executive President himself a candidate, the polls chief powerless and the police partisan to the core, fearing transfers and demotions, it has become a general free-for-all.
Only good sense now remains for political leaders to rein in their supporters. They must realize that the citizenry remains sensitive to unprovoked violence as was the case in Tangalla last Tuesday.
In the meantime, the race for the nation's top job is still short on debates relating to issues and long on mud-slinging. The opposition throws mud at what it calls the 'Royal Family', their abuse of power, the state machinery and the accumulation of wealth. But it has not been able to dig up substantive evidence to prove its case. Likewise, the Government has now begun flinging mud back at the opposition's main candidate, revealing 'details' of a series of questionable transactions involving his own family when he was Commander of the Army.
Neither side has fully substantiated its claims. And yet, there is no smoke without fire. A nation's leaders must be beyond reproach. They must be above suspicion. There should not even be hint of suspicion that they are corrupt, and more, that they encourage corruption either by their family members or their cronies. They must be like Caesar's wife "because the wife of Caesar ought not only to be clear of such a crime, but of the very suspicion of it" (Life of Cicero). That is the level of expectation the citizens have of those who aspire for high political office because they are reposed with the confidence of the people that public funds are in safe hands.
Both candidates have not been able to shake off the tinge of impropriety associated with their conduct while holding public office. And the people would expect better from them.
With no independent mechanism to investigate allegations of bribery and corruption, and the Commission set up for the purpose being useless, in every sense of the word, there is little or no chance of the public extracting the truth from various allegations made from either camp.
Not long ago when this newspaper asked questions about certain military related tenders, we were told "not to demoralize the troops". Now, the 'war' may be over, but it is patently clear that many did make hay while the sun shone. It's the Government that is making the allegations; its strenuous efforts only going to prove that all was not well in the multi-billion rupee military hardware procurement procedures. Which one of the competing war heroes is going to take the responsibility for these misdemeanors? None, for sure.
After the election, the victor could go on a witch-hunt against the vanquished. That is not right, and that is not what the country deserves. That is why cynics complain that elections of the nature we are witnessing today are mere games at the top at the expense of the people.
When our reporters went on their election rounds, they came across what one might call a typical villager, the kind everyone is wooing these days. This young married man, father of two small children, is an inland fisherman named Wasantha. He earns Rs. 300 a day selling his catch from the crocodile-infested Weeravila tank in the Hambantota district. That's his only income. During the non-rainy season he and his wife make building materials for cottages to supplement their meagre income. He does not go to the sea to fish because that is the vocation of a 'different set of people'.
His eldest child must wake up at 5 a.m. and walk 2 kilometres to school. His boat that belongs to his brother, given on a loan by the local fisheries co-operative, has developed a small leak which he says he will attend to sometime soon. Asked about upcoming elections, all he had to say was; okkama dan enawa chanday illanna; eta passé, api gana balanna kawuruth na ne (Everyone comes to ask for our vote, but who will look after us afterwards).
This is the hopelessness that a vast mass of the country's people experience. What one political party pithily termed Munuth ekai unuth ekai (These chaps and those chaps - they are the same) is the essence of Wasantha's lament. Though the country has seen an element of development over the years, there are so many like Wasantha from Weerawila who feel left out. How much better life could have been had our leaders cared for them too. |
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