NPC: Eastern Election Must Not Lead to Further Alienation
Statement by National Peace Council:
On Saturday May 10 the people of the Eastern Province will cast their vote at crucial elections that will have a bearing on the future course of politics in the country, and especially with regard to the ongoing ethnic conflict. The election can be historic as it will represent for the first time the hopes and opinion of the people of the east through an electoral process that is confined to the Eastern Province alone. The National Peace Council expresses its concern that the period of the election campaign has been marked by undercurrents of intimidation although there has been low overt violence. If conducted unfairly, these elections can misrepresent the will of the people of the east, who are unique in being from all three major ethnic communities and in significant proportions.
The National Peace Council views the forthcoming elections as providing an opportunity to the government to demonstrate its commitment to the democratic process as part and parcel of its strategy to resolve the ethnic conflict in a just and democratic manner. So far the level of violence has been relatively low which is a positive feature that we hope will continue until election day on May 10 and in the post-election period. However, available evidence indicates that campaigning was carried out under a security environment not conducive to a free and fair election.
[A boy looks out of his classroom at the Kaliyakadu camp for internally displaced Tamil people in Batticaloa, east of Sri Lanka May 8, 2008. REUTERS/Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi-via Yahoo! News]
The relative fairness of an election cannot be determined solely by considering what occurs on election day, as there are a number of other factors which can affect the citizen’s and political parties’ ability to participate effective in the democratic process. One of the controversial features of the elections is that the TMVP, which is a former militant organization continues to retain its arms on the grounds of self defence. In addition, the TMVP is contesting in alliance with the government, which has put the system of checks and balances on electoral malpractice into jeopardy. The basic requirement for a free and fair election is that all the contesting parties are unarmed and not in a position to intimidate both their political rivals as well as voters who will be fearful to cross the path of the armed party. Election monitoring organizations even filed action in the courts calling for the disarming of the TMVP for the purposes of conducting free and fair elections but without success due to the absence of jurisdiction of the courts in this matter.
Reports from the opposition political parties contesting the eastern elections, and from election monitors and the media, have highlighted a significant level of intimidation that has obstructed the electoral campaigns of the opposition parties. There are allegations that the TMVP has been intimidating its political rivals and put them into such a state of fear that they dare not campaign in areas in which the TMVP has its armed presence. The very low level of campaigning by opposition parties in some parts of the east has been independently verified by election monitors and the media. These same sources have also reported that in some instances polling cards have not been delivered to voters and that the TMVP has been issuing identity cards on its own, which could be used to fraudulently cast votes.
The National Peace Council urges the government to ensure that the election officials and police are suitably empowered to deal with any and all attempts made to tamper with the electoral process on May 10. We believe that having elections in the east, accepting some flaws, is an important step towards empowering the people in the east to democratically determine their future. But we wish to register our concern that an electoral process marked by intimidation, unless rectified even in these last days, will undermine the democratic processes that are necessary to restore peace and ethnic harmony in the country and can lead to a further marginalizing and alienation of disempowered ethnic minorities.
Executive Director
On behalf of the Governing Council
National Peace Council of Sri Lanka