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[Mathan]

Elections can help in restoring democratic culture to north east


Both local and international elections monitors are making preparations to monitor the conduct of the general elections in all parts of the country, and especially in the north east. The significance of this monitoring effort extends beyond the day of general elections. Election monitoring provides people with an opportunity to participate in the democratic governance of their society and to ensure that the rules of democracy are followed.


This is particularly true of the north east where civil society was suppressed for the past two decades due to the armed conflict. It became very difficult and risky to organise people to uphold their civic interests.


The relative paralysis of civil society in the north east continued even after the signing of the ceasefire agreement and the end of the war.


There were very few in the north east who wished to openly protest against the violations of human rights, such as child recruitment and political assassinations, taking place. However, the holding of the general elections on April 2, and the LTTE's interest in them, offers an opportunity for the revival of an independent civil society. This is because election monitoring has become part and parcel of free and fair elections. In order to prove their bona fides, parties contesting the general election cannot reject election monitoring, and this includes the LTTE.


One of the most important features of the present general elections is the decision of the LTTE to enter the election campaign by openly siding with the Tamil National Alliance. For its part the TNA has accommodated the LTTE by permitting it to nominate its own candidates on the TNA list.


It has also agreed to take up the position that the LTTE is the sole representative of the Tamil people at the election campaign, and seek legitimisation of that position through the people's mandate. The LTTE's entry into the electoral process is a positive shift of its strategy- that formerly relied on military actions to achieve results. But it also poses challenges to the concept of a free and fair election.


Candidates belonging to the non-TNA parties have been complaining about various forms of intimidation that hamper the conduct of their own elections campaigns.


A team from PAFFREL, one of the principal elections monitoring organisations, visited Jaffna last week to ascertain the opinion of the people regarding the forthcoming elections. We were told that only members of the TNA had the freedom of campaign from house to house. The islands, such as Kayts, which remains an EPDP stronghold, would be an exception.But for parties such as the EPDPand the Anandasangari group, campaigning from house to house is not possible in most of the Jaffna district. They fear assassination, and certainly would be assaulted by those who oppose their politics.


LTTE objective


Since Sri Lankan society, including Jaffna, is not ordinarily violent, this threat of violence would imply that there is organised resistance to the election campaigns of non-TNA parties. Such organised violence against opponents of the LTTE and its allies would necessarily stem from the LTTE. As a result the EPDP, which is the main challenger to the LTTE-backed TNA, is presently conducting its campaign primarily by means of hiring vehicles and engaging in voter education by means ofloudspeakers. Sri Lankan security forces need to escort them on the campaign trail as their safety cannot otherwise be assured. The Anandasangari group, which has neither the organisational strength nor resources of the EPDP, is resorting to newspaper advertisements. Therefore, there is electoral campaigning in Jaffna, but it is of a limited nature.


By and large the opinion expressed by civil society leaders in Jaffna was that the level of fear and intimidation among the general population was less than it had been at previous elections. In the past the LTTE had opposed the holding of elections on the grounds that they were not wanted by the Tamil people. They further felt that the elections were a means by which the government intended to drive a wedge between the Tamil people and the LTTE. It would appear, however, that the relative success of the peace process over the past two years, and the north east people's total support for its continuation, are factors that have changed the LTTE's attitude towards the elections. The important concern for the LTTE at this time is not to prevent the elections, but to achieve as much political benefit from them as possible. For this purpose they need a maximum number of TNA members to be elected to Parliament.


The desire to maximise TNA political representation in Parliament would also be the LTTE's main reason to ensure that voters in the LTTE-controlled areas also get to vote at the general elections. There are an estimated 60,000 voters in the LTTE-controlled areas who are eligible to vote in the Jaffna district and a further 40,000 who could vote in the Wanni district.

As most of these voters have lived under the LTTE for the past two decades, it is likely that they will vote for the TNA rather than for any other party to which they have had little or no exposure. Without a guarantee of safety from the LTTE, no rival political party would dare to venture into the LTTE-controlled area and seek to campaign there.


The inability of other political parties to campaign in the LTTE-controlled areas would certainly be a violation of the principle of a free and fair election. The LTTE which is now lobbying for the rights of the people in the LTTE-controlled areas to cast their votes has not been equally enthusiastic about ensuring that those people get to hear other political opinions as well. At its present stage of evolution the LTTE appears to want one part of democracy, and not the other, not appreciating that democracy comes as a total package. On the other hand, shutting the voters in the LTTE-controlled areas out of the voting process would be a denial of their basic rights as citizens of Sri Lanka.


Possible solution


On the occasion of the forthcoming general election the LTTE has been requesting that the people living in the areas under its control should be provided with the facility to vote on the grounds that this is their democratic right.


The LTTE has also sought to have polling stations set up within its own areas of control in order to make it easy for the people to cast their votes.


But the Elections Commissioner has ruled that this proposal is impracticable at this time. The prevailing practice for the conduct of elections in the north east has been for the Elections Commissioner to provide voters in the LTTE-controlled areas with polling stations that are clustered immediately outside the LTTE-controlled areas.


However, this method of cluster polling invariably entails travelling long distances in a context in which there is very poor public transport. A further concern is whether there will be inadvertent or deliberate delays created by the security forces when voters from the LTTE-controlled areas cross over into government-controlled areas in order to gain access to the clustered polling stations. In their endeavour to facilitate voting by the people in the LTTE-controlled areas, the LTTE has offered to move back their forward defence lines 500 metres or more, and to permit their checkpoints to be used as polling stations.


In discussions with PAFFREL in Killinochchi, the LTTE's political wing leader S.P. Tamilchelvan also agreed to permit members of the Sri Lanka police with weapons to come into their checkpoint areas, from which the LTTE would have temporarily withdrawn, to guard the polling stations as required by law. This is a significant concession by the LTTE towards the concept of a united country, as this would entail their permitting Sri Lankan security personnel to enter LTTE-controlled areas to ensure that Sri Lankan laws are upheld.


For their part, the Sri Lanka army has pledged not to hinder voters crossing over from the LTTE-controlled areas to the clustered polling stations that are within the governnment-controlled areas. The army commander, General Lionel Balagalle has also assured PAFFREL that they will ensure that there are sufficient security personnel on duty at their checkpoints to facilitate the rapid transit of voters from the LTTE-controlled areas to the cluster polling stations. However, checking on 60,000 voters, should they come from the LTTE-controlled areas into the cluster polling stations on the government-controlled side, will prove an uphill task for which the army will be held responsible. The Election Commissioner should consider the offer made by the LTTE as a practical way out of this problem.


In discussions with the LTTE in Kilinochchi we were told that the LTTE's concern for the voting rights of the people was to bring them closer to democracy as a fruit of the peace process. The LTTE leader said that voting was a basic democratic right that should be made available to all people without discrimination.


The fact that the language of parliamentary democracy is new to the LTTE is not a reason to reject it. Instead they should be held to their words so that a democratic culture may be reborn in the north east. The LTTE's words coupled with the strengthening of civil society through election monitoring should make the LTTE more accountable and responsive to democratic principles in the future.

நன்றி - டெய்லி மிரர்