Point of view

Pulling down, putting up

By Gamini Gunawardane Retired Snr. D.I.G

Though elections posters, cut-outs, symbols and all that in the election propaganda by themselves may seem innocuous outwardly, it is the real cause of all our election trouble. First, it creates an environment of deliberate noncompliance with, and sets in an attitude of total disregard for election law, and gives the general impression that during election time, law and order takes a back seat. And during this time, the police are generally demoralized.

This, is an industry that brings in all the 'players' into the game - the wine shop owners, the kasippu dealers, the drug merchants and other prospective favour seekers, to print the posters - the thugs and other "Do Nothings" to paste the posters; and - the underworld to protect the posters and cut-outs from the rivals.

Then it starts another cycle of repaying the 'players' with more wine shops, protection from the police and other enforcement agencies such as UDA, the Water Board, the Electricity Board, Land Reclamation Board, Forest Department, the local authorities, to name just a few. Whichever government comes into power with the pious pratignas to wipe out corruption pronto, here they are, all the 'players', solidly behind in the government bandwagon, in no time! Any surprise then that the police start saluting the underworld criminals, the true governors of the country!

Today, even a recruit constable of yesterday knows that the poster law as it exists, is not enforceable. I learnt it at the University of Hard Knocks in 1987 in Kandy during the first Provincial Councils elections when I had to my dismay, B.M. Liyanage S.S.P. Kandy Division (now D.I.G). transferred out overnight because he carried out my instructions to pull down all election posters. His sin was that he had had the government party posters also pulled down!

Undaunted, I tried to enforce this law again as D.I.G. Southern Range, driving my men hard during the Pradeshya Sabha elections of 1997. In a short time, I realised that it was a futile exercise, because it was a case of the police pulling down the posters and wiping out the election symbols drawn on the road by night and the 'players' putting up new posters and symbols by next morning, everyday. Besides, my police officers had to answer a difficult question from the local politicians: "why are posters not allowed only in the Southern Province"?

Notwithstanding finding answers to this question, I found it to be an unproductive exercise when I realised that the opportunity cost of this effort was too high because the police energy and time spent on this endeavour could have been spent more usefully on prevention and detection of crime or on traffic control. The funny aspect of this was that it became a ridiculous game of "Horaa - Polis " between the law enforcers and people who sought become the law framers!

On the other hand, if one were to think seriously as to the efficacy of the posters and symbols etc. in promoting the candidature of the candidates, one would wonder whether the trouble taken over them and the monies spent on them was worth the while. The question is, how much can the candidates reach the voter's attention through these vehicles.

Though it is really a matter for a market research, all one could empirically say is that it makes little impression if at all, on the voter who sees these posters on the walls. If at all, there would only be a negative reaction on seeing the walls disfigured.

So if we as a community, really mean to call off this bluff and if we seriously want the poster menace out of our elections, the following amendments to the election law would be necessary:

1. No printer shall accept any orders for printing any election posters. It would result in the cancellation of the printer's licence.

2. It shall be unlawful to print, or make, prepare, display any election poster, cutout, symbol or drawing other than for an election pamphlet.

3. It shall be unlawful to possess, store, transport or display election posters, symbols, and cutouts in any place.

4. It shall be an offence to import any election posters, symbols or cut-outs into the country.

5. It shall be lawful for any person to remove any election poster, drawing, symbol or cut-out displayed from any place which can be seen by the public, having brought the same to the notice of the police by way of complaint recorded in a police information book and if the police fails to have the same removed within 48 hours, it shall be the duty of the officer in charge of a police station or in his absence, whoever is acting for him to afford such person police protection to remove such posters, symbols, cutouts, drawings and illustrations.

6. No person shall erect, display cut-outs, paintings, dummies and drawings of the President of Sri Lanka in any place from which the public could see the same, without his/her written permission, a copy of which will be sent to the O.I.C. of the police station area concerned. It will be the duty of such O.I.C. to make the same available for inspection by any citizen on request.

7. It shall be the responsibility of the Elections Commissioner to reimburse all expenses incurred by police in having the posters, symbols, cutouts, drawings and illustrations removed.

Explanation: Reference proposals 2 & 3 above, it is necessary to make it unlawful to display these offensive items anywhere inclusive of an election meeting premises because, in the guise of making decorations for election meetings, the entire countryside is painted red, green or blue and it is never removed thereafter. And nobody dare touch it! Besides, many incidents of violence occur while one party is decorating the roads announcing the election meetings. This is done mostly in the night. The rival party invariably sets upon the decorators, causes them bodily harm, damages their vehicles and confiscates their wares. Sometimes deaths are caused during these clashes. To the average man this is not a matter worth losing one's life on, except for the politicians for whom it is a matter of life and death, this contest for an opportunity to serve the people!

A question will now be raised as to how an election candidate could advertise his candidature, to the electorate. He could do this through advertisements placed in the print and electronic media. The Election Ordinance could also prescribe subsidised rates these media could charge in respect of such advertisements. There will also be no bar on circulation of election literature, which will facilitate familiarizing the voters with the numbers allocated to each candidate. Then of course, there is the most effective way of personal canvassing.

Perhaps, there may be a possibility of the Supreme Court ruling such legislation as circumscribing the Fundamental Right of the freedom of expression. I think this could be overcome by the Parliament passing this legislation by a two-thirds majority as provided for by Article 123 of the Constitution. I do not think that there would be any difficulty in obtaining the consensus of all members of our political parties who, judging by their statements, are most keen in having a clean election. I have no doubt that the people of this country too would grudge foregoing this much of their right to the freedom of expression. For, of what use is a mere Right if the exercise of the same leads to strife and bloodshed? Hence, the people may have to decide upon the question of giving up a little of their Right for the greater good of the community in exchange of peace and reduction of corruption. It is after-all, a trade-off.

Of course, this will not be the panacea for all the election evils. It can however make a serious dent since this is the mother of most election villainy. It will certainly give the upper hand to the police from the word 'go' and will enable them to be on top of the situation during elections. Nothing substantial is achieved by vilifying the police without remedying the real cause.

Among the benefits of such legislation, besides what is discussed above, will be, less work for the police, less material for editorial writers to attack the government with, less matters to observe for the monitoring committees and less disgust for the voters who have to bear the brunt of all this for no fault of theirs other than of course, voting for these people!

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