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Giving
power to suit the people In return, the people have received step-motherly treatment at the hands of these Councillors, and an utterly inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy who have turned the Provincial Council system of local government administration into a 'white elephant'. Colossal sums go down the drain. According to the Central Bank's 2003 report, a sum of Rs. 30.4 billion was transferred by the Central Government towards financing the recurrent expenditure of the PCs last year alone. It refers to no proper accountability for these funds, lack of controls and the need for a strong monitoring system of these PCs through a Finance Commission injected with some powers. By all accounts, as we write, reports are that yesterday's Provincial Council elections was a non-event, lacking enthusiasm from the people. Here was every indication that the total vote (plus the spoilt votes which could be an indicator of the growing frustration with the politics of the day), for the first time in the country's history would dip below the 50 per cent mark - a singular vote of no-confidence on this otherwise useless system of administration. Only the labour of political parties to get the faithful to vote - lest their opponents benefited from a low turn-out, or instances of raw ballot-box stuffing may push the percentage to respectable levels. In a sense, the apathy has defused the usual tension associated with much elections. The Wayamba fiasco of not so long ago was the high-water mark of a sham election. The wise decision to hold the polls in a single day has helped stem the tide of bloodshed. And still, this election was clearly being waged by the political parties as a show of strength. The UPFA government argued that despite their minority status in Parliament, they had the backing of the people in the country. Their leaders - who burnt buses and destroyed power pylons in 1987 at the time this system was forced down the country's throat by the then Indian government as an answer to the cry for a separate state in the north and east, were now arguing that they wanted the people to vote for the 'punchi-Parliaments' as they affectionately called the Provincial Councils to "endorse" the April 2 election victory. The opposition on the other hand, having trapped the government without a majority in Parliament wanted to humble them at these polls to further erode their credibility as a working government. For all intents and purposes, this was a prestige battle between the political parties. This election had nothing to do with devolution of political power, the very basis for the introduction of this system we have been saddled with. None of the political parties now talk of amending or repealing this system of government because of the pocket-edition MPs that it produces and the perks they get. If it is a training ground for grooming a next generation of MPs, it has hardly proved itself. The lukewarm, nay ice-cold, public reaction to yesterday's polls was almost a verdict by the people that they did not care any more as to who was governing this country. It meant little to them. In the north and east where it was meant to stand for something, the system is irrelevant today as the separatists are asking for an interim self-governing authority, a stepping-stone to a separate state. If crucial subjects like education and health need attention at the grassroots, and devolution of power is the basis for Provincial Councils, the better prospect is the reintroduction of the District Development Councils. The UPFA government will probably stick its nose up at this because it was introduced by President J.R. Jayewardene, but the unit of devolution, District, is more administratively manageable, less politically sensitive and certainly more people-friendly and accessible than a Province. The Federal concept is also fast becoming a fait-accompli in this country, thanks to the north-east insurgency. These are fashionable concepts imported from foreign countries and advocated by foreign NGOs with their local collaborators in Colombo. Once the victory celebrations from yesterday's polls subside, all political parties should sit down and rewrite the devolution of power laws to best suit the people, especially those of rural Sri Lanka and not the aid donors or the separatists. |
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