The March 12 Movement for Clean Politics, a collective of civil society organizations, last week called on people not to vote for any candidate who fails to declare his or her assets prior to the forthcoming local council polls.

In a statement issued subsequent to a press conference in Colombo on Tuesday, the organization said that people who had voted in the previous elections to elect governments in the past were the main responsible party for the present crisis in the economy and the breakdown of law and order.  The first accused for the crisis in our society is the voter. The electors have not used their vote wisely to promote policies that could uphold democracy and other social values. It is clear that they had voted and cast their preferences without giving due consideration to the policies of the candidates.  Time has come to understand that every single vote is a step towards taking the country back on the path towards the right direction. The electors must not fall prey to the candidates asking for their votes in return of promises of this and that. The electors must critically review whether such parties or candidates could deliver those promises.

“We hope that the electors would be prudent enough not to vote for any candidate who fails to declare his or her assets prior to the elections. Before you mark your ballot card, think whether the person of your choice could safeguard public funds and be able to uplift the community and village to greater heights from the present crisis. It is your citizenry duty,” the statement said.

The forthcoming elections to select members for the local government bodies is the 75th election Lankan people face after their gain of universal franchise. The electors are frustrated with politics and prevailing political culture. One of the main reasons for the present plight was the consequence of electing corrupt and dishonest candidates to govern the country, the statement said.

The March 12 movement also called on political parties to inform the public of the criterion they would use to select their candidates. It is also a duty incumbent upon the political parties to get their candidates to declare their assets.  The majority of those who had been elected so far were proven to be persons irresponsible of their duty. The majority of candidates the parties had placed before the public were wasters of public funds, said the March 12 movement’s statement.

At the press conference Convener of the March 12 Movement Rohana Hettiarachchi appealed to political parties to take into consideration the criteria issued by them on March 12, 2015 when selecting candidates for the LG polls.  The criteria by the movement demand political parties to adhere to eight preliminary principles in selecting their candidates for elections. The eight preliminary principles of concern are: The persons nominated by the political parties as the candidates in the forthcoming parliamentary election;

1. Should not be a person who had served a jail sentence for a crime, or a person who has received a suspended sentence by the courts of law

2. Should not be a person who had been proven guilty for bribery and/or corruption, and should be acceptable to society as a person of good character (be cautious when considering people who are widely alleged of bribery and/or corruption charges)

3. Should not be a person who is engaging or had engaged in the past in the trades such as alcohol, drugs, gambling, casinos and prostitution, that are detrimental to the wellbeing of the society and country

4. Should not be a person who is engaging or had engaged in trades, which destroys the ecological life support systems and the environment

5. Should not be a person who has abused political power

6. Should not be a person who had entered into financial agreements prejudicial to the country before becoming a people’s representative; who has abused power as a people’s representative and entered into such financial agreements with the government; or has been a party to such agreements

7. The candidate should be either a resident or have an amiable relationship with the residents of the area that he represents

8. The political party should provide adequate opportunities for women and youth representation when nominating the candidates.