Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Delimitation Committee Appointed for Provincial Council Elections begins proceedings

Situation Updates / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Committee appointed by the president to delimit the Provincial Council Electorates decided to hold meetings to obtain the views of the general public regarding the delimitation of Provincial Council Electorates. Those meetings will be held in each district as follows and are open for general public, political parties and other interested civil organisations to express their views and proposals concerning the delimitation of Provincial Councils Electorates. Details on the meetings being held in each administrative district can be accessed in Sinhala and English.

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Election Commission issues first official notice on Local Government Election 2018

Situation Updates / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Putting an end to the continuous postponement of the much awaited Local Government election, the Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government has signed the gazette notification on constituting the number of members to Local Government bodies. The said gazette has already been sent to the government printing department for publication. The first council that ended the 4 year term was Batticaloa Municipal Council which was in the year 2012. The terms of all the Local Government Bodies have reach their end from time to time starting from the month of march in the year 2012, accordingly it was in the year 2015 that the last remaining councils concluded the terms. Therefore the Sri Lankan electors have been waiting for an opportunity to cast their votes to select their local representatives under the newly introduced system of elections which is a mix system comprising of 60% and 40% from FPPT and PR respectively. According to the notice issued by the Election Commission, the consideration has been given to the possibility of holding the election at a date between 20th to 31st January 2018.

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Manjula Gajanayake – Interview on ArtTV’s ‘Public Space’

Interviews, Situation Updates / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Manjula Gajanayake, National Co-ordinator of CMEV, was invited to attend the programme ”Public Spacce” that’s aired weekly on ART TV which is a platform where current topics are discussed. Mr. Gajanayake spoke about the special features of the new election system which will be put into practice at the next local government election and about the method that will be used to select the representatives within this new system. Furthermore, he unveiled the observations of CMEV regarding the perceived reasons for the delay of the long-awaited Local Government Election and who are the responsible parties for the said delay. https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FARTTVNEWS%2Fvideos%2F2091035334256208%2F&show_text=0&width=560

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Q&A with the Chairman of the Election Commission

Interviews, Situation Updates / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

The local government elections that is due to be held in the near future has given rise to numerous critical issues in the political sphere for 2 main reasons. Firstly, the uncertainty of the date of elections and secondly, the different definitions and interpretations’ which are made, based on the new law which will be adopted in commencing the said elections. The next local government elections will be held in accordance with the new Act introduced in the year 2012, as the Act no 22 of 2012 Local Government Election (Amendment). Since there are several amendments introduced by the parliament related to this act, and due to the way in which the whole country has been divided in line with this law, the actual situation is misunderstood by the general public. In order to shed light on some of the confusing facts related to aforementioned issues, CMEV has formulated and presented this questionnaire with the answers of Mr. Mahinda Deshapriya. In this interview he has taken all the prevailing issues and basic details pertinent to the new law into consideration. Furthermore, he has explained the steps taken by election commission leading up to the election with the intent of clarifying the doubts arisen with the allegations leveled by various civic engagement groups and political parties regarding the lack of proactive engagement visible in fulfilling the role of the Election Commission in commencing the LG elections. Download the document here.

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Manjula Gajanayake – Interview on RanOne FM’s ‘7.17’

Interviews, Media reports, Videos / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Manjula Gajanayake, the National Co-ordinator of the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, was invited to share his views and insights on the upcoming Local Government Elections and the current situation of Provincial Councils elections, at the radio talk-show ‘7.17’ aired on RanOne FM. Listen to the interview in full here. In this programme, Manjula Gajanayake highlighted various issues pertaining to the postponement of 2 elections: namely Local Government and Provincial Council Elections. Though the minister of local government and provincial councils Mr. Faizer Mustafa stated that the Local government elections can be duly held during the month of January 2018, the relevant ministry is yet to fulfill basic requirements such as publishing gazette notification on the constituency of new local government authorities as LG elections to be held under new electoral system. And this time, the members will be increased in number as twice as the previous times in comparison due to the introduction of new electoral system which is a mix of FPPT and PR. Meanwhile, government has introduced a new electoral system to the provincial councils which is known as mix system that’s comprising. of 50% each of PR and FPTT. However he also emphasized that the hasty manner in which these changes were made is contradictory to the principle of representative democracy. One of the salient issues observed in the process of approving the relevant bill is that the government has not allowed the general public to scrutinize and to create any public debate with this regard. Furthermore, he mentioned that the promises made by the line minister regarding the dates of local government elections were not true and hence it is difficult to have faith on the remarks he has been making in relation to the dates of elections. Another important point he made during the interview was that the government is required to take appropriate measures to use the existing delimitation commission without setting up separate delimitation committees with the participation of political party members. One can’t deny the fact that the government has used previous delimitation committees to postpone the elections.

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Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) condemns the threatening of Kandy Deputy Elections Commissioner by a coordinating secretary of the Leader of the House

Press Releases, Press Reports / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

It was reported that one of the coordinating secretaries to the Minister and Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella has threatened Mr. Namal Thalangama, Deputy Commissioner of Elections – Kandy. This incident has taken place at the district election office at around 10 AM. The said coordinating secretary has entered the election office premises and had made inquiries into claims and objections related to the enumeration 2017. Since the country will be heading towards a Local Government election within few months, such developments are not healthy to conduct free and fair elections in the future. Party leaders must also take disciplinary action against those who were involved with the incident. Download the full statement in Sinhala here.

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Requesting the Support of the National Delimitation Commission for the Provincial Councils Delimitation Process

Media reports, Press Releases / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

CMEV writes to the President requesting to obtain the services of the Delimitation Commission that has already been established as a statutory institution at the National level for the delimitation process which was suggested by the recently approved Provincial Councils amendment Act in order to introduce a new electoral system to the Provincial Council elections. Further CMEV highlights that appointing separate committees for this purpose sans obtaining the services of a Commission with the relevant expertise that has been already established for that very purpose will be to no avail. Furthermore, a suspicion has been emerging in the society owing to the fact that, appointing such committees is being used to prolong the commencement of elections as well. Apart from that, the Delimitation Commission could serve as an instrumental mechanism in the process of electoral reforms which will be taking place in the future. Download the letter in English and Sinhala.

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Enforcement of punishments for government officials responsible for misuse of State property is a tremendous victory for Sri Lankan citizens

Awareness & Advocacy, Press Releases / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

The most recent presidential election held on the 8th of January 2015 was regarded as controversial due to various reasons. One of the frequently discussed aspects among them was the rampant misuse of state property by the previous regime. One instance of such misuse was the distribution of “Sil Redi” (Cloths warn in order to observe Sil on poyadays), that was conducted island-wide. Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) along with the other election observing organizations, complained to the Department of Elections with this regard while this misuse was taking place at the time. The revelations with that regard also were followed up consistently afterwards and it was yesterday that the verdict was given on the matter by the high court of Colombo. We believe that the said verdict will contribute to a certain extent in preventing the mal-intentioned precedent of rampant misuse of state property in order to win the elections, from taking place hereafter. The press release in relation to this matter has been published and can be downloaded in Sinhala, while the English and Tamil translations of the same, will be made available shortly.

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A discussion on the need to systematically observe and report the political activism of women during the period of elections

Awareness & Advocacy, Photos, Press Conference / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) in partnership with International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) organised a workshop on violence against women in elections (VAWIE) for election observer groups and women’s rights advocates on 27th of July at Global Towers Hotel, Colombo. This discussion which was held based on the common issues arising in relation to VAWIE and other relevant matters, was attended by representatives of all election observation groups as well as women’s rights activists representing various women’s organizations and groups. Mr. Mahinda Deshapriya, the chairman of the Election Commission inaugurated the program and Beverly Hagerdon (Chief of Party, Sri Lanka- IFES) ,D. M. Dissanayake (IFES), Udeni Thewarapperuma(IFES), Rohana Hettiarchchi(Executive Director-Paffrel) and Manjula Gajanayake (National Co-ordinator-CMEV) subsequently conducted the remaining sessions in this event respectively. Chairman of the Election commission of Sri Lanka outlined the inclusive election process that has being followed by the Election Commission, in accordance with the strategic plan that was introduced recently, which was followed by the socio-economic and political challenges towards the promotion of women participation in elections. Keerthi Thennakoon (Caffe), Daya Herath (MDL Lanka), Sashee De Mel (TISL) , Jayantha Dolawattha (SLAPA) also expressed their views on the subject representing election observer groups while Visaka Dharmadasa (AWAWSL), Nadesan Suresh (Uva Shakthi Foundation), U.D.M. Sheelwathie (UWFWO), Nalini Rathnarajah (Women Activist) and several others contributed to the discussion representing women and other rights based organisations. It was a novel experience to learn about VAWIE and specially for the Women’s Organizations the information shared with regard to election monitoring tools and mechanisms was instrumental. During the final discussion, all the participants agreed that the existing election monitoring tools used by observer groups lack questions to capture VAWIE and they came up with several questions that need to be included in all election monitoring tools. The participants also acknowledged that in order to implement VAWIE monitoring tools, there are certain prerequisites that need to be looked into- such as training programmes on VAWIE for election observers, establishing a district level focal point for observers to refer victims of VAWIE and increasing public awareness on VAWIE. Based on the discussion, IFES and CMEV agreed to draft sample questions to capture VAWIE that can be adopted by interested observer groups. IFES and CMEV will also develop a brief strategy on how to implement VAWIE monitoring during elections.

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Consultation Workshop on the Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities – Polonnaruwa District Discussion

Awareness & Advocacy / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

CMEV has been engaging in various initiatives of empowering disability organizations to achieve their political rights, with special emphasis on voting rights of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and to create an inclusive discourse with that regard, ensuring that the popular disability related slogan ‘’’Nothing about us without us’’ is given its true meaning. To this effect, CMEV has been conducting a series of programs aimed at the realization of political / voting rights of PwDs, in parallel with both National level Elections held in 2015 as well. As a part of the newest chapter of the said initiatives, another consultative discussion was held on 18th July in partnership with the Election Commission of Sri Lanka and FRIDSRO. Key representatives of DPOs in North Central Province took part in this occasion. The Additional Commissioner of the Election Commission of Sri Lanka Mr. Saman Sri Ratnayake attended this event as the main resource person, representing the Election Commission. Assistant Election Commissioner (Polonnaruwa district) Mr. J. Jeniton and Researcher of CMEV Hashanie Chitranganie attended as resource persons. National Coordinator of CMEV Manjula Gajanayake was the facilitator of the event and the Programme Officer Mr. R.P. Karunarathne attended representing FRIDSRO Sri Lanka.

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The Regulation of Campaign Finances and the Electoral Process in Sri Lanka

Awareness & Advocacy, Resources / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

There are numerous changes which must inevitably take place in the process of electoral reforms. One such significant sector that must be subject to change is the limitation of campaign finances. A large number of programmes have been carried out by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence on this regard. The awareness programmes pertinent to this sector are still being conducted consistently. As a part of these initiatives, an information pamphlet has been released in all three languages. This pamphlet was published in collaboration with Transparency International Sri Lanka. Download the pamphlet in English, Sinhala and Tamil.

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Limitations on Campaign Finance and Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities: A series of Regional Dialogues – Part 2

Situation Updates / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) organised an awareness workshop in Jaffna recently. This discussion series was organised by CMEV in partnership with Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), with the assistance of Civil Society Organisations as well as field and district coordinators of CMEV. Candidates willing to contest for the upcoming Local Government election, women candidates in particular, activists and key members of civil society organizations attended this event. Former Deputy Commissioner of Local Government – Mr. N.A. Dharmasiri and National Co-ordinator of CMEV – Manjula Gajanayake, were the speakers at this event.

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Seminar on the Regulation of Campaign Finances and the Declaration of Assets & Liabilities in Elections

Archives, Awareness & Advocacy / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Formulating laws and introducing a mechanism for regulating campaign finances is a significant sectors in the current electoral system in Sri Lanka. A series of discussions with the view to accomplishing this endeavour was held recently as an initiative of Centre for Monitoring Election Violence and International Idea in order to create awareness in the stakeholders to the electoral process. Further discussions were held in collaboration with Transparency International as well. The distinct element of this series was that twelve districts were involved in those deliberations. Subsequently, with the involvement of selected number of participants from the said consultative discussion series along with the institutions and entities who are directly accountable for the process of regulating campaign finances – Election Commission of Sri Lanka, Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and Inland Revenue Department – another discussion was held in Colombo at the Janaki Hotel. A large number of participants took part in the discussion which was held on the 27th of June. All the participants unanimously agreed on the need for taking the necessary steps to formulate a legal framework that enables the regulation of campaign finances, prior to the election that is to be held in the year 2020 or any other national level election that is to be held in the future. Among the dignitaries who addressed the gathering were Nimal G.Punchihewa, Director (Legal), Election Commission of Sri Lanka; Dr. P. Saravanamuttu, Executive Director, CPA and Co- convener of CMEV; Asoka Obeysekara, Executive Director, Transparency International Sri Lanka and Manjula Gajanayake, National Coordinator, CMEV. Meanwhile, chamber deliberations were also held in tandem. These were attended by Dr Wickramabahu Karunarathne, Leader , Nawa Sama Samaja party; Sirithunga Jayasuriya, Leader, New Socialist Alliance; Gamini Nawarathne, Former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (Admin & Election); Nimal G Punchihewa, Director, (Legal) Election Commission of Sri Lanka; Rohana Hettiarachchi, Executive Director of Paffrel; Sankitha Gunarathne, Manager, (RTI) TISL; Manjula Gajanayake, National Coordinator of CMEV. The discussion was moderated by Sashee De Mel, Senior Programme Manager, Transparency International Sri Lanka.

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Limitations on campaign finance and disclosure of assets and liabilities: A series of regional dialogues – Part 2

Awareness & Advocacy, Media reports, Photos / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

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Limitations on campaign finance and disclosure of assets and liabilities: A series of regional dialogues – Part 1

Awareness & Advocacy, Situation Updates / Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

In addition to the contributions made by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) in critical engagement with the election observation processes in Sri Lanka, it has simultaneously been contributing to the electoral reform process in the country. As part of these overall functions, CMEV has initiated a series of discussions with the intention of enhancing an island wide public discourse on “Limitations on Campaign Finance and the disclosure of assets and liabilities”. Imposing limitations on campaign finance and the disclosure of assets are not merely isolated elements of the overall electoral process. They are obviously factors that play a pivotal and decisive role of any election. Additionally, these factors assist safeguarding the overall integrity of the electoral process while creating an equal playing field for all election candidates. While most of the countries across the globe have been effectively working in and around identifying and adopting appropriate approaches connected to restricting campaign finance; it is a welcoming situation in Sri Lanka having initiated a public discourse on the same matter during the recent past. Therefore, contributing to the said initiative, Centre for Monitoring Violence (CMEV) organized nine regional level public discussions on the ‘Campaign expenditure and on declarations of assets and liabilities’ at different nine locations across the country since 29th April – 01st June 2017. This discussion series was organized by CMEV in partnership with Transparency International Sri Lanka with the assistance of local organizations as well as CMEV field and District Coordinators. Candidates willing to contest upcoming local government election – women candidates in particular, Activists and key members of civil society organizations attended in the said series of discussions. Deputy Commissioner of Local Government (retired) Mr. N. A. Dharmasiri, National Coordinator of CMEV Manjula Gajanayake, and Researcher of CMEV Hashanie Chitranganie were the speakers at these discussions while the Senior Programme Manager of TISL Sashee de Mel attended representing TISL. Details of discussions and key stakeholders involved Date Location Individual/Local Partners engaged 29th April 2017 Royal Nest Hotel, Bendiwewa, Polonnaruwa Mothers & Daughters of Lanka (MDL) 13th May 2017 WODEPT Community Centre, Puttalam Child Vision Sri Lanka-Disability Rights – Puttalam 14th May 2017 Lake Front Rest, Kanthale, Trincomalee National Collaboration Development Foundation(NCDF) 16th May 2017 Green Garden Hotel, Batticaloa CAMID – Batticaloa 20th May 2017 Ruby Hotel, Monaragala Community Development Centre, Monaragala 21st May 2017 Viharamahadevi Human Development Centre, Hambantota Sri Lankan Young Voice Foundation, Hambanthota 22nd May 2017 Divisional Secretariat Office, Ratnapura FRIDSRO, Kandy 24th May 2017 Aradhana Hotel, Galle CMEV Field Co-ordinator, Akmeemana 01st June 2017 Oak Ray Hotel, Kandy Federation of Sri Lankan Local Government Authorities Current Situation and Legal Background: The current legal background regarding the limitation of campaign finances in Sri Lanka as well as the challenges encountered in implementing the law on declaration of assets and liabilities related to elections were focused much in these discussions. Additionally, there was a special attention to explore the possibility of ensuring accountability and transparency of political culture of the country by using the existing legal provisions on declaration of assets and liabilities in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, apart from those core topics, participants were given an opportunity to propose their suggestions on as to how to make sure of formulation and implementation of regulatory mechanism for the limitation of campaign finances. Thus, viewpoints of participants were taken with regard to the regulation of provision of funds by the political parties during the election period which so far has created an adverse effect on the integrity of the electoral process currently being practiced in Sri Lanka.

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Author name: Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)