Abuse of state resources forms bulk of election law violations; violent incidents only a handful
By Ishu Bandara The Election Commission (EC) has long advocated the implementation of an advanced voting law to ensure every voter casts his or her vote, but despite its efforts, the Cabinet has yet to approve the EC’s proposal. Election Commissioner General Saman Sri Rathnayake told the Sunday Timesmany voters, such as doctors on duty, fishermen at sea, and prisoners would not be able to cast their votes in this election, as in previous elections. Saman Sri Rathnayake The Election Commission has been requesting an advanced voting system from the government for the past five years. “We can’t implement a system without creating the necessary law,” Mr. Rathnayake said, describing the lacuna as a violation of voters’ rights. Meanwhile, the EC has reported 269 instances of election law violations by candidates since it made the election announcement on July 26. It has received only one complaint about election violence. According to the Election Commission, almost all these violations were related to abuse of state property. Polls monitoring group People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarchchi told the Sunday Times they had recorded 63 cases of election law violations and four incidents of election violence. He said most of the cases related to the abuse of state resources and power, and they included the government’s plan to offer 50,000 jobs to graduates, transfers, and the move to increase the state-sector pension. The PAFFREL chief welcomed the immediate action the EC took to urge the government to postpone these plans until the election was over. “We are not against these projects, but there is political involvement at the ground level. We ask the government to launch these projects after the election,” Mr. Hettiarchchi said. Mr Hettiarachchi said they planned to intervene in the ongoing court case regarding the voting rights of remand prisoners. Manjula Gajanayake, Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES), said his group had recorded 36 confirmed incidents related to the misuse of public property. Rohana Hettiarachchi “The most objectionable was the appointment of local council special representatives by provincial governors. Apart from this, some government entities have been distributing money and scholarships. The major problem now is that the Presidential Media Unit continues to promote the President. However, we are happy to note that the EC has taken some positive steps by stopping projects and postponing them until after the election. The EC has also summoned noncompliant civil servants and ministry secretaries to warn them of consequences if they promote candidates,” he said. Manjula Gajanayake Defending its actions, the Presidential Media Division said it was only giving publicity to the official meetings of the President and the events where President Ranil Wickremesinghe took part in his capacity as President. Mr. Gajanayake said even ministries were doing politics with projects. He said the Ministry of Child Affairs and Women’s Affairs was trying to establish about 20,000 women’s groups at the Divisional Secretariat level, but his group alerted the EC and stopped it. The IRES Executive Director welcomed the steps taken by the Deputy Inspector General Asanka Karavita, who is in charge of the election, to ensure that the September 21 presidential election is free and fair. “The police have set up a special operations room to track not only election-related complaints but also to receive campaign finance-related complaints. They have also introduced a special app, connecting all 25 district-based election complaint offices with the main Election Complaint Centre at the Election Commission head office in Rajagiriya. All the officers are connected through this special online platform, allowing the police to oversee the low-polling areas, identify challenges related to the complaint mechanism, determine necessary measures, and address other problems,” he said. Arjuna Parakrama Pix by Eshan Fernando Professor Arjuna Parakrama, the Chief Operating Officer of the Centre for Monitoring Election Violations (CMEV), said, “As before, we have been monitoring violence and violations of election laws during the pre-election, election, and post-election periods. But this time, we will not only count the cases but also measure the impact of those violations on the results, so that the Election Commission will be able to make a clear announcement and, if necessary, call for a re-poll.” He said the abuse of state resources was a serious concern and welcomed the EC’s warning to four Ministry Secretaries for allegedly trying to “bribe voters with financial and other benefits illegally” in violation of the election law. The EC has partnered with the think tank ‘Factum’ for this election to identify online content that can harm the integrity of elections and to gain technical expertise. “We will begin our monitoring activity on August 15, the nomination day, and the first update will be provided after August 22,” Factum advisor Omar Rajarathnam said. “This will allow the EC to effectively monitor violations on online platforms, just as it does with on-the-ground observations.”
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