A cash incentive repeatedly offered by Sri Lanka’s President – who is also the Minister of Finance, in addition to the Prime Minister, and several other ministers in the campaign to secure votes for the island nation’s ruling party in the local government elections to be held in May, has come under heavy fire.
Election pledges by the National People’s Power (NPP) leadership to provide central government funds without scrutiny to local bodies secured by the ruling party, have been condemned as political intimidation and a threat.
Addressing an election rally held in Mannar on 17th April, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced that proposals for funds by local government institutions that the NPP does not have power would be scrutinised for ‘more than ten times’.
“The proposals need to come from the local government. The central government allocates funds for that proposal. But before allocating funds, we will check who is sending the proposal. If the Mannar Urban Council is in the hands of the National People’s Power group, then the proposal sent to the central government will be approved with closed eyes. But if it is in the hands of any other group, the proposal will be checked more than 10 times. Why? Because they cannot be trusted.”
On 12th April, while participating in a public rally attended by a majority Muslim population near the Silawathura bus stand in the Musali electorate of the Mannar district, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya had also warned that local government power essentially should be given to her group in order to ‘properly utilize’ funds allocated from the central budget.
“Now we need to clean up the village. Clean up the village for us. Then the money we allocated from the budget can be used in a way that will benefit you.”
The President slammed regional political leadership of opposition parties as ‘thieves’.
The main Tamil party in Parliament has denounced the financial offer by the ruling party during their visit to the North, as a threat.
“This kind of electioneering is a threat. It is the government’s responsibility to allocate funds for regional development. As far as we know, this region is not a separate state,” said Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MP Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam.
The centre ‘does not wield such powers’
Highlighting that depriving funds to the local governments and forcing voters are not executive rights, three former governors of the Good Governance government said that neither the President, the Cabinet nor a governor has discretionary powers to deprive a local government institution of its revenues.
“Which means, the government does not have the ability to withhold funds from a municipal council, urban council, or a local government body won by a non-ruling political party or an independent group.”
In a statement to the press on 17th April, the three former governors, President’s Counsel Maithri Gunaratne, Azath Salley and Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon, stated that the President or anyone else’s statement that “if the LG is in our power, we will send the money with our eyes closed, but if the power is in the hands of others, we will investigate at least 10 times” is blatant political intimidation.
“This statement has been made for the second time at a public rally in Mannar. It is election rigging. It misleads the people. It is also an unfounded statement.”
The three former governors, who say that political parties and groups elected by the people should have freedom to govern the LGs, also reminded the current rulers that after coming to power, the government cannot destroy the democratic values which they stood up for when in opposition.
“The President is bound to fulfil the responsibilities conferred upon him by the Constitution and the legislature. Intimidating the electorate is not an executive right.”
In their statement, the three have also pointed out how the National People’s Power government has violated laws related to election campaigning.
“The pamphlet printed and distributed by the National People’s Power states, ‘The Local Government receives funds from the central government in power. If another party in the LG body comes to power, …’. This is a blatant lie. A hoax. A violation of election campaign laws.”
The three former governors have slammed the NPP offer as an uncivilized political practice, saying that the group that holds power in Parliament should also hold power in the local government bodies as well. They say it is also a violation of the sovereignty of the people.
“Local governments are elected by the voters. Even the cabinet ministers do not have the power that lies with LG representatives. No civilized ruler can impose financial constraints on any institution elected by popular vote. Local government is the place where the most important facilities for the day-to-day life of the people are provided. It should be free from politics and should only be for the benefit of the people. It is an uncivilized political practice to say that the group that holds power in parliament should also hold power in the local governments. It is a violation of the sovereignty of the people.”
The three former governors of the Good Governance era have further pointed out that if stamp duty and other funds belonging to a local government body are blocked, it is possible to obtain a writ of certiorari against the officer who is doing so.
An election monitoring group believes that the statement made by the President, as a decision-maker on public finances, could ‘unduly influence the electorate’.
“Although the statement does not directly state that the National People’s Power will not provide funds to local government institutions in which they do not gain the power, it appears that it constitutes an undue influence, that is, an influence on the independent opinion of the voter, in accordance with Section 82 of the Local Government Elections Ordinance,” said a statement issued by the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL).
Rohana Hettiarachchi, Executive Director of PAFFREL, in his statement, expresses confidence that the President will not issue such statements in future.
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