The people of Sri Lanka have been enjoying right to elect people’s representatives through the system of universal franchise since 1931, thus establishing one of the defining bases of a functioning democracy. During the last nine decades National, Provincial, District and Local Government elections as well as a national referendum was held and many new electoral laws and amendments were enacted to make the system fools proof, transparent, accurate and trustworthy.
Over the years, several local institutions have come to play in the field of election monitoring. In 1996, the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee declared that there should be independent scrutiny of the voting and counting process and access to judicial review or other equivalent process so that electors have confidence in the security of the ballot and the counting of the votes.
The European Union and the Commonwealth deployed foreign monitoring teams to observe the elections in Sri Lanka. Election observation is the practice in which independent persons or organisations watch over an electoral process to ensure that it complies with the national legislation and international standards for elections.The EU has previously conducted election monitoring in Sri Lanka six times with the last being at the presidential election of 2019.
Currently, the European Union Observer Team is in Sri Lanka toobserve the Presidential Election slated for 21st of next month. The Head of EU Team, Jose Ignacio Sanchez Amor said election observation is part of the EU’s foreign policy with respect to support to democracy and human rights and the rule of law worldwide. It contributes to the strengthening of democratic institutions, building public confidence in electoral processes, helping to deter fraud, intimidation and violence. It also reinforces other key EU foreign policy objectives, in particular peacebuilding.
In the past, there were allegations of malpractices in some of the elections in Sri Lanka, especially the National Referendum in 1982 to extend the term of the Parliament elected in 1977, which was to end in 1982, for five more years. At two of the eight presidential elections, there were allegations of intimidation of voters by militant groups to boycott elections.
However, after the elimination of terrorism in 2009, the subsequent elections were held in free and fair manner, as recorded by the local and international monitors.This was pointed out by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena during his discussion with the EU Election Monitoring Team on Tuesday (August 27). He assured the government’s total commitment to free and fair elections and pointed out that the Election Commission is an independent institution and all the decisions pertaining to the elections are taken by the Commission. “The government has made the allocation of budgetary requirements and the rest is for the Commission to carry out,” he said.
The monitoring teams scrutinise not only the casting and counting ofballots on Election Day but also the period ahead of the polls, including the registration of candidates, electoral campaign and preparations for the vote, and relevant post-election mechanisms such as electoral dispute resolution and the reporting of campaign expenses.
The conduct of election observation is an expression of the people’s right to participate in public affairs, enshrined in Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the fundamental freedoms of association and expression. Today, most countries in Asia are home to civil society organisations involved in domestic election observation. As a result, the transparency and understanding of electoral processes have been greatly enhanced.
In Sri Lanka the election observing institutions include the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES), Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), Centre for Policy Alternative (CPA) and the Campaign for Free and Fair Election (CaFFE).
The newest institution is the Election Media Monitoring & Voter Awareness (EMMVA), which has a mandate to observe media behaviour during elections and disseminate information to enhance voters’ awareness of his or her rights to exercise franchise intelligently.
The spokesman for EMMVA pointed out that the Election Commission of Sri Lanka as the electoral administrators has issued guidelines to media on good practises during the forthcoming Presidential Election. The mass media are increasingly recognised as playing a crucial role in free and democratic elections.
Hence, it is necessary to observe and review all media behaviours during the elections and inform the Election Commission and the people of the country about ethical and unethical behaviours of media. This centre titled, ‘Election Media Monitoring and Voter Awareness’ (EMMVA) has been established for this purpose, its Convener Prof. Tudor Weerasinghe said.
The election observers desire to ensure a disciplined political culture for the functioning of a better mass media, which will adhere to ethical and professional media standards to strengthen democratic values in Sri Lanka. They engage as absolute impartial mediators to monitor media behaviour in election publicity campaigns by maintaining neutrality and transparency without succumbing to pressures from any political party or politicians. EMMVA will monitor the behaviour and manipulation of the media in Sri Lanka from the beginning to the end of the election.
The role of media monitors will have multitude of functions such as daily monitoring of the media and quality checks in that regard, monitoring of traditional as well as new media including television, radio, newspaper reports, posters, banners, bill boards, movies, television series, social media, Facebook, Instagram, and standardising their impact process, responding to them in daily basis and referring them to the relevant institutions for legal provisions.
Election monitors have the vital responsibility to support the enhancement of the integrity of electoral processes and minimise election irregularities and election-related human rights violations and to provide accurate, impartial information and analysis on issues related to elections in particular and prospects for democratic development in general.
They can assist to strengthen the democratic process of promoting an environment conducive to the conduct of free and fair elections and the realisation of peoples’ democratic aspirations.
However, the monitoring teams must ensure that the observers and their staff have highest standards of professionalism and integrity and strive to offer reliable and independent assessments, based on universally accepted democratic norms, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as regional instruments such as the 2012 Bangkok Declaration on Free and Fair Elections.
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