NPP govt. uses ‘secret weapon’; Opposition cries foul

By Vishvanath

Never a dull day in Sri Lanka, where issues are never in short supply. A much-awaited election came to pass on Monday (16). The government secured control of the coveted Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) with the help of 13 non-NPP councilors. NPP member Vraie Cally Balthazaar was elected Mayor by secret ballot amidst protests from others, who demanded an open vote. She polled 61 votes as opposed to the SJB candidate, Riza Zarook’s 54 votes. The UNP, the SLPP and the UPFA voted for the SJB candidate.

The NPP won 48 out of 117 seats in the CMC and the SJB 29 seats in last month’s local government elections.  

It is being asked in some quarters whether Balthazaar would have been able to win if there had been an open vote. The NPP says she would still have won, but the SJB and its allies are convinced otherwise. The SJB said it had handed over a letter signed by 60 councilors to Commissioner of the Department of Local Government of the Western Province, Sarangika Jayasundara, who presided over Monday’s CMC election, demanding an open vote, but she had disregarded that request, and decided on a secret ballot.

The SJB says it won the hung local councils where chairpersons were elected by open ballot because the government cannot influence the outcome of elections held in a transparent manner, and therefore the outcome of the CMC’s mayoral contest would have been different if the Commissioner had complied with its request for an open vote. This argument is not without merit. Some of the non-NPP councilors who voted for Balthazaar did not want to be identified with the government for obvious reasons. Some independent members may not have minded voting for her openly, but there were others who were wary of doing so.

Similarly, an open ballot also may have made it embarrassing or even political suicidal for the government to enlist the backing of some CMC members who are facing very serious allegations. After all, the NPP vilified all its opponents as crooks and said it would never close ranks with them under any circumstances. It may not have evidence to prove allegations against its rivals who have been elected to local councils, but the general consensus is that some of them are tainted. Even notorious characters with money to throw around can win local government elections in urban centres with a high density of poor communities. In 2006, a drug dealer known as Kudu Lal was elected to the CMC as the leader of an independent group. He was described as the main heroin supplier in Colombo. He fled the country while the STF was looking for him during a countrywide drug bust. He has since been operating from overseas. There have been several other such characters in active politics.  

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, making a special statement on the CMC election on Monday night said the SJB and its allies had secured control of a considerable number of hung councils in elections held by open ballot. Realizing that open votes were disadvantageous to it, the government had arbitrarily changed the guidelines for electing local council heads and deputy heads and caused elections to be held by secret ballot so that some councilors could for it on the sly, Premadasa said, warning that action would be taken against all those who had subverted the law to serve the interests of the government.

SJB MP Mujibur Rahman, who led his party’s campaign to gain control of the CMC, flayed Commissioner Jayasundera, alleging that she had favored the NPP, and was exposed for her partiality due to extensive media coverage Monday’s election. At one point, some CMC officials tried to remove the media from the CMC auditorium where the mayoral election took place, but the Opposition councilors protested and thwarted that move. Commissioner Jayasundera has denied any wrongdoing. She kept on saying during the stormy CMC session that she was going by the local government election laws and not guidelines as such. She said she was carrying out instructions from the Local Government Ministry. The Opposition would not buy into her claim. It argued that she was duty bound to decide by an open vote whether to hold a secret vote or not. Rahman warned that the SJB would resort to legal action against the manner in which the CMC election was conducted. Besides, the SJB is sure to take the fight to the political front as well.  

The NPP has said the CMC will now have the blessings of the government  in power, and a mega city development drive would be launched in Colombo city. Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala, who was actively involved in the NPP’s battle for the CMC, told the media that Monday’s election had been held according to the law and the SJB had to come to terms with its outcome. He will have to prove his claim in court if the SJB takes legal action against the manner in which the CMC election was held.

The CMC election may be over but the political battle between the NPP and its political rivals will not come to an end any time soon. The government is sure to go on having elections to the posts of chairpersons and deputy chairpersons in the other hung councils as well held through secret ballot in a bid to secure their control unless the Opposition seeks a judicial intervention to prevent it from doing so.  

What one gathers from the CMC’s mayoral election and other such contests elsewhere is that all political parties do not scruple to any extent either to gain or to retain power at the expense of their values and principles, which they market to win elections. Never do they hesitate to subjugate the democratic best practices they claim to uphold to self-interest. Both the NPP and the SJB will have a hard time explaining to the public why they reneged on their pledge not to join forces with their political rivals.