Danger of manipulating electoral process

Unfortunately, from the time of the Yahapalanaya, governments of Sri Lanka, too, seem to have joined the ranks of scammers, the biggest nuisance of modern times due to misuse of technology. The bond-scams were followed by a sugar-tax-scam and, the latest, the visa-scam. What happens invariably with all these scams is that the initial furore is allowed to die down when things are swept under the carpet!

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

There was a temporary resurgence of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s reputation when he stepped in to fill the vacuum created by the unexpected resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and became the ‘man of the hour’ by steadying the ship of economy and preventing the threatened illegal occupation of the parliament. However, electoral manipulations since have made one doubt whether he is a true democrat.

Ranil started showing his true colours during the Yahapalana regime when not one, but two Central Bank bond-scams occurred on his watch. He brought in his friend Arjuna Mahendran to head the Central Bank. To prevent exposure of the first bond-scam, Ranil got the then President Maithripala Sirisena to dissolve the parliament. The Yahapalana government subsequently perpetrated the second bond-scam. One of the MPs had the audacity to write a book to prove no scam occurred in spite of, no less a person than Ranil’s cousin, Prof Rajiva Wijesinha declaring openly that the bond-scams had been perpetrated to replenish depleted UNP funds! After Ranil became President, Mahendran had the audacity to write a letter to The Island giving his full Singapore address, an unusual thing for him to do unless it was meant to imply that he is above the law.

Whilst wasting scarce public funds on foreign trips and tamashas, Ranil prevented the holding of local government elections by refusing to release funds even though nominations had already been finalised, which is a gross manipulation of the electoral process. So, was the postponement of provincial council elections during Yahapalana times.

Unfortunately, from the time of the Yahapalanaya, governments of Sri Lanka, too, seem to have joined the ranks of scammers, the biggest nuisance of modern times due to misuse of technology. The bond-scams were followed by a sugar-tax-scam and, the latest, the visa-scam. What happens invariably with all these scams is that the initial furore is allowed to die down when things are swept under the carpet!

I was surprised to read in the political column of a national newspaper, not The Island, that visa problems had been solved! Since the publication of my opinion piece Idiocy of new visa arrangements in The Island of 07 May, the only significant change that has been made is the reintroduction of the most used category; 30-day visa. It is beyond comprehension how the most widely used category of visa was omitted from the new system which was touted as a vast improvement based on feed-back. Reintroduced 30-day on-line visa costs $50, but $10 goes as service charges instead of the previous practice of the entire charge being credited to the exchequer. Further, the transactions are now through a Dubai bank, not through a Sri Lankan bank, as previously done. It looks increasingly likely that the new system was introduced not on feed-back but on kick-backs! The fact that officials summoned by the Committee on Public Finance did not turn up lends to the likelihood that it was a political decision which the officials acquiesced to. The Chairman of CoPF told parliament that some MPs threatened him for continuing to investigate the visa scam!

Ranil has defended the corrupt as evident from the sacking of Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe, who attempted to take action against the Cricket Board, which was found to have committed fraud by the Auditor General. As well explained in the editorial Playing ball, the govt’s way (The Island, 12 June), most likely on orders from Ranil, the Sports Minister has published a gazette notification seeking to enable the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President and Secretary to remain in their positions for eight years and thereafter serve as Executive Committee members. This is in violation of the resolution passed unanimously by the parliament and as stated by the Chief opposition Whip, the gazette at issue is likely to help the government secure funds for its election campaigns from those who benefit from corrupt cricket deals.

Whether elections would be held is the million-dollar question. As the editorial referred to, points out: “The SLPP-UNP government is currently in the extension mode, as it were. It has reportedly granted service extensions to some defence bigwigs and is all out to extend   the   term   of   the   incumbent   Attorney-General. The UNP has not given up its efforts to extend President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s term by postponing the upcoming presidential election.”

UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara proposed a referendum to extend the life of the parliament and that of the president by two years and in spite of widespread criticism and contrary to the opinion of constitutional experts, maintains that it is constitutional to do so! It is rumoured that Ranil is now attempting to extend his presidency by a year through parliament, citing some lapses in the past. It looks as if he entertained the warped logic that two wrongs make a right!

Whilst some henchmen of Ranil are busy propagating the idea of an extension, others are maintaining that elections would be held, one predicting that it would be on 05 October, and forecast that Ranil would be the winner. All these manipulations are likely to result in Ranil losing whatever little support and respect he has and come the next election, the UNP may well be relegated to oblivion, again!

We may be heading for an era devoid of the UNP, SLPP and SLFP, which Sirisena has already destroyed. If SLPP continues to support Ranil, it is likely to face the same fate as the UNP and the SLFP. Perhaps, it is better for the SLPP to nominate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as the candidate as that, if not anything else, would give an opportunity to test the public’s verdict on his ouster! I do not shed tears for any of these parties but am in constant worry that any further attempts by Ranil to manipulate the electoral process may lead to a violent Aragalaya. I do hope Ranil would end all speculation, even if he decides not to contest or takes time to decide, rather than allow apparent manipulations to lead to disaster, which this time may well end in a bloodbath!