Elections were held, results announced, why then is there so much upheaval since then?

The general discussion post local government elections had largely been around change of government, change of the Prime Minister and regrouping of the political parties. It is clear when one follows the public discourse on the results of the recent elections that the general public and in particular the politicians have not understood the significance of local government institutions as service agents to implement the needs of the locality of that particular area in which they are cited. The results of the elections should portray the performance level of the local institutions and not be considered to mirror the performance rating of the central government. 

It is imperative that the people and the politicians be empowered with an understanding of the scope of institutions and the meaning and use of terms that are loosely used to suit political advantage.

Local Government

It is necessary to interpret correctly the need to have local government institutions, the issues linked to the local government and assessment of the effectiveness of the local councilors at the time of elections and on a reckoning of the above criteria that votes should have been cast at the elections. A critical observation that is made in the present context is that while people are full of enthusiasm to exercise their franchise rights there appears to be a stunning lack of clarity in differentiating between local and national issues, personal ambitions and political party ambitions.  What are these local elections about or if the question be better phrased – why are local government elections held and why  are  they considered important to be embedded in the constitution.

Local Government Institutions

Local government institutions are administrative units at the lowest tier of the administration, set up especially to focus on the needs of the people in the local area in which they are domiciled. The function or role of the local government administrative unit is usually what is delegated from legislation or from directives issued by the authority higher in line above it, all related to the needs of the people in that particular locality.

The Central Government

The central government on the other hand is the apex body in the structure representing institutions created to administer a nation state.  The institutions of the central government are entrusted with the maintenance of national security, law and order, economic growth, maintenance of equity for all in all aspects of human need and wants and the exercise of international diplomacy. They also have the power to initiate laws binding all other tiers in the structural arrangement of which it is the premier body.

Referendum

When a referendum is called for it means that people are expected to vote on a single issue referred to the people for a direct decision.

Recall

Recall is a means of calling back an elected representative prior to the expiration of the period for which the individual has been elected. To be able to do so a percentage of electors have to sign a petition demanding the removal of the named person. A popular vote is taken and if the majority votes for the person’s removal, he or she will be removed from the post held by the individual and another person will be elected for the balance period.

Reference has been made to these four concepts to highlight the misinterpretations and misunderstandings in the ongoing debate following the local government elections in the country. 

A misleading caption in a daily Newspaper states “Landslide victory for MR” which would mean that MR was a contestant in the elections, which he certainly was not although the SLPP consisting of his supporters had been given a resounding victory. 

 On the same page in the newspaper MR is supposed to have stated that “It’s clear the country needs a change.”

Another news item reported that the President wanted the resignation of the Prime Minister; it was also stated that the members of the SLFP were negotiating with the members of the Joint Opposition to reconstitute the government without the present Prime Minister.

Yet another news item was that an attempt is being made to replace the PM with an SLFP Minister.  

The Prime Minister on the other hand maintained that he was not going anywhere as it was within his constitutional rights to remain in his present position.

In this medley of chaos a few days ago papers carried the news item report that the Unity government will continue.  The PM has stated, “There has been no necessity for any party to withdraw from the government they formed.” The cabinet spokesperson in his news briefing stated that the “Yahapalana government will continue till 2020.  All decisions will be taken by President Sirisena and PM Wickremasinghe collectively.”

Why so much confusion? In any election some win and some loose. This is what happened. The members who were a part of the former government that was dethroned by the present government have made a comeback.  This is not to forget that some members of the former government are with the present one including the President himself.  But besides this the big question to be asked is if the local government elections should impact on changes to the central government?

Perhaps some politicians looked upon the results to be a negative vote on the performance of the government during its three years in governance.  It could be concluded that it is an adverse vote on the performance of the unity government but that should not portend change to the structure of the existing institutional arrangements. The Sirisena faction of the SLFP and the UNP were voted in to form a coalition government and Wickremasinghe was mandated to be appointed the Prime Minister in the event of a coalition victory. What relevance has the local government elections to do with the above factual situation?

This election is not a referendum conducted on a single issue put up to be voted on by the people.  This was a long due local government election held at long last to deal with local issues of which there are many on the broil. Some that comes to mind on the wake of recent events are land slides and the need for desilting, garbage clearance and better housing.  Better schools and trained teachers have been a long felt need and avenues for employment another urgent requirement.  Clean administration with avenues closed for bribery and corruption yet another demand of the local people.  The contestants did not highlight these issues.  They concentrated on breaking up the unity government, the bond issue, SAITM, Security concerns vis a vis the ethnic balance and seeking POWER.  National issues overtook local requirements and urgent needs of the people at the grassroots. Local government governance and elections to select personnel to implement the functions allocated to these institutions were unfortunately overtaken by national politicians driven by ‘grab power’ motor.

The call for the Prime Minister to resign was wholly unconstitutional. A recall for the Prime minister was not on a single agenda at the elections. The mandate for his appointment was given earlier and the results of the local elections cannot affect the office of the PM.  The modus operandi for the removal of elected official can be through recall or if the individual resigns and not because of ad hoc demand of vested interests.

Let there be a clear understanding of the different roles of institutions in the administrative structure.  People must be informed of the nuances of governance and not be permitted to have it rolled under the carpet of biased self interest.

This election as mentioned earlier should have focused on local issues and if they were affected by the inclement weather which brought down plenty of houses going under water resulting in many loss of lives; did relief not reach in time or was the quantum of relief inadequate; then again if the cost of living is too  steep and government carries on regardless of the anguish of the people who could not bear the excessive expense it would be a local issue;  National crisis as faced by the people prior to the 2015 election agenda was largely based on the need for change as in 2015 of the then government based on burden of authoritarianism, nepotism, and indifference to adverse public opinion.  This last list of items on the agenda although of a national issue mattered to the man on the street in their everyday lives.  To that extent they became local issues on which people would want to vote on.

But the general discussion post elections had largely been around change of government, change of the Prime Minister, regrouping of the political parties.

 The attempt that is made here is that those at the leadership level must make the effort to make a distinction between local and national issues.  They have to learn this and teach the people to differentiate on local and national issues.  Otherwise we could do away with local government issues and focus on only national matters to the detriment of local needs singularly peculiar to the particular localities.

What one might and should learn from the election results is that the present government that came to improve on the previous one has not made an impact.  Despite all the loud bera beating on bribery and corruption no big bribe takers announced loudly prior to the elections in 2015 had been netted.  In fact only a shrimp who executed his superior’s orders and distributed sil redha to the people was taken in and jailed. The exhuming of Thajudeen’s body had not produced any verdict except to announce that important files were missing. These are indeed a sad verdict on the government.  This might have made an impact on the local elections on the basis that the government appears to be ineffective. But to call for the government to resign on the verdict of a local government election is to demonstrate a total lack of constitutional precepts and an overarching narrowness in perception of people’s needs.