The Election Commission (EC) of Sri Lanka has invited the general secretaries of all registered political parties to a meeting to be held next Wednesday (23). Among the items on the agenda, according to media reports, is a discussion on electoral reforms. The very mention of the term, electoral reforms, sends a chill down the spine of every taxpayer, for they always lead to an increase in the number of elected representatives maintained with public funds.
The meeting scheduled for 23 Feb., is not likely to serve any purpose other than letting the public know that the EC is not defunct. There is no way the EC can hold the Local Government (LG) polls, which the government has postponed by one year. It is also up to the parliament to make or amend laws to conduct the Provincial Council (PC) polls. The parliament means the government to all intents and purposes. So, in the final analysis it is the government that will decide when the country will go to the polls, next. It fears elections owing to its poor performance on every front, and is not ready to face an electoral contest anytime soon.
‘Parasites’ and hosts
Sri Lankans are notorious for their subservience to their elected representatives, who have emerged as a separate class of sorts, due to their privileged position in society. No event is considered complete without the participation of a politician, and, therefore, power politics has taken precedence over everything else, and every institution has got politicized as a result. However, there is no love lost between the Sri Lankan electors and their representatives, who are popularly known as parasites because they are living off the public. Worryingly, the number of these parasitic political elements has increased exponentially thanks to a slew of ill-conceived electoral reforms.
Before the country’s switchover to a mixed electoral system from the Proportional Representation (PR), at the lowest tire of government, there were about 4,500 local government members, but the introduction of the new electoral system to elect 60% of members on the first-past-the-post system and 40% on the PR led to a huge increase in the number of elected members to 8,327. This was a costly mistake that even the political parties have realized if their observations on the new electoral system are any indication. Hence the new electoral system has not been adopted for the PC elections, which will however be held under a different version of the mixed electoral system.
Need for fewer representatives
Sri Lanka with a population of about 22 million has about 9,000 elected representatives in the parliament (225), the PCs (445) and the LG institutions (8,327).
The number of members of the parliament rose from 168 to 225 under the PR system. It does not make sense to have so many MPs while there are as many as 445 PC members. The number of either the MPs or the PC members has to be slashed. After all, most of these representatives are not present at parliamentary or PC sittings. The Speaker of the parliament often complains of inquorate sittings, the quorum being only 20 MPs. In other words, not even 20 MPs are found in the Chamber, more often than not, when the parliament sits. It is said that the all members of a PC are present only during lunch time. Most LG bodies do not have enough seats for their members, and if all members turn up by any chance, they will have to play musical chairs.
Women’s quota
One of the main reasons given for reforming the LG election laws was the need to introduce a 25% quota of seats for women in the LG bodies. It was a progressive move; women outnumber men and deserve better participation in the decision-making process at national, provincial and local government levels. But the right thing was done the wrong way, and the new laws have increased the number of LG members. Most of all, there are many misogynists in local councils and they suppress their female counterparts’ freedom of expression. Female local government members, suffering many indignities at the hands of their male counterparts, have decided to sink their political differences and form a front against the male supremacy.
The situation has become so bad that last year, a group of female LG members, gave a press conference to bring their plight to the attention of the public and the government. Led by the Maharagama Urban Council SLFP Member Chandrika de Zoysa, the women councilors said that their male counterparts did not even allow them to speak at council meetings.
Chandrika said: “This is a problem not limited only to the Maharagama UC. Female members are treated likewise in all MCs, UCs and Pradeshiya Sabhas. Whenever we try to speak the male council members irrespective of their party affiliations shout at us and humiliate us. Their domination is mostly overlooked and we have no chance to speak about the problems of the people who had voted for us.” She also complained that the male councillors verbally abused them. UNP Member of the Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Municipal Council Harshani Sandaruwani complained that the gender-based discrimination in the local government bodies must not be tolerated. “We are harassed by male council members and they gang up overlooking their party differences to do so. We are helpless. Therefore, we decided to form an organisation of female council members countrywide to raise our voice.”
Maharagama SLPP UC member Savithri Gunasekera said that there were 24 female members in the Maharagama UC, of which the total number of members was 47. “We have more than half of the council members but none of us is able to speak at the council meetings. Some of the female members are scared of speaking about this problem openly for fear of reprisal. We call on the relevant authorities to bring in new laws to prevent the harassment by male council members. Whenever we submit a motion it is removed. This is a great injustice.” How bad the situation in the LG institutions where male members are in majority is not difficult to imagine. Thus, it may be seen that increasing the female participation in politics is one thing and protecting their rights is quite another.
There have also been instances where some female LG councilors have misbehaved. On 31 Jan., a female SLFP member of the Colombo Municipal Council threw rotten eggs at a male councilor at a committee meeting of the council. Interestingly, the victim is the late President J. R. Jayewardene’s grandson Pradeep Jayewardene.
A suggested way out
The PR system has its strengths as well as weaknesses. It ensures that each and every vote counts, and helps even the minor and minority parties gain representation in political institutions. The first-past-the-post system favors only main political parties, and there is no value attached to the votes polled by those other than the winning candidates. But it could bring about chaos because it leads to unstable administrations without working majorities, and promotes coalitions, characterized by internal disputes, which have a deleterious effect on the country’s political stability. Most of all, many constituencies, and wards in the local government areas are left without representatives under the PR system.
The need, therefore, arose for a mixed electoral system. There are other countries where a mixed representation system is in practice. Germany is an example. What went wrong in case of the LG electoral reforms here was that provision was made for increasing the number of councilors. If the total number of councilors had been fixed at 4,500, and they had been elected under first-past-the-post system (60%) and the PR system (40%), the country would not have been burdened with so many LG members. Some wards in LG areas could be merged, where necessary, to bring number of ward-based representatives down to prevent a rise in the total number of councilors.
The proponents of the mixed representation system have realized their mistake at the LG level, and hence the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to decide on PC election law reforms. The PSC has also decided to retain the mixed representation system, according to media reports. But care should be taken to prevent an increase in the number of PC members. It is also suggested that the LG election laws also be amended to bring the number of local councilors down to 4,500 or even below. An increase in the number of elected representatives does not benefit the public in any way. It only serves the purpose of politicians. Perhaps, the EC should take up this issue when it meetings the general secretaries of the political parties next week.
