The victory of the National People’s Power (NPP) at the May 6 Local Government election was more or less a foregone conclusion. Voters generally favour their Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas to be helmed by the party that also controls the Government.
Development and welfare work at the village level can be more easily coordinated and accomplished when the Local Government bodies and the Central Government sing from the same hymn sheet.
The voter turnout at the Local Government polls was much lower than that of the General Election held last year, which is generally the case with Local Government polls where the focus is on local, not national, issues. Hence, the votes obtained by many parties also show a decline.
In the case of the NPP, several factors were at play. The first factor was perhaps election fatigue, with voters having three elections almost one after the other, beginning with the Presidential Election in September last year.
The incumbency factor also weighed in, which is common to all Governments here or abroad as the initial excitement over the formation of a new Government gradually wanes and people get used to a rhythm. Some voters also get disillusioned that a Government may not be able to deliver some of the promises its speakers made during the polls campaign. This is par for the course, because not all promises can be delivered as economic and other circumstances may change.
It must be borne in mind that Sri Lanka is undergoing an International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural adjustment program, which naturally limits certain populist measures adopted by Governments in more economically prosperous times. This may, however, have worked against the Government at the Local Government polls.
Voter apathy is the other elephant in the room. Although there are 17 million registered voters in the electoral roll, less than 10 million voters actively participated in this election. This does not augur well for democracy in a country which has had the Universal Franchise from 1931, 17 years before Independence. It seems that some people do not care about elections, even though the ballot is a fundamental right that we must cherish.
Some have effectively disenfranchised themselves, by not updating their details in the electoral register. Unfortunately, in countries such as the USA and Sri Lanka, where voting is not compulsory, millions do not opt to exercise their franchise for whatever reason. But one less vote in a democracy is one less voice.
This is why some experts have floated the idea of compulsory voting in Sri Lanka, at least at the Presidential Election and the General Election. We just witnessed General Elections in two countries where voting is compulsory for all adults over 18 – Australia and Singapore. Everyone is compelled to vote as a sort of national duty and the results in both elections were crystal clear with no room for ambiguity. Moreover, in both countries citizens who reside abroad also have to vote. Our Elections Commission should also evolve a mechanism to enable Sri Lankans domiciled abroad, including dual citizens, to vote in elections here.
One other disturbing trend is the large number of rejected votes. At the last General Election, there were more than 660,000 rejected votes. The lack of voter education could be partly blamed for this, as voting methods differ from poll to poll and some voters may not have a clear idea of how to mark the primary vote and then the preferential votes at the various elections. The Election Commission must get the Mainstream Media and social/new media to disseminate information on marking the vote correctly at each election.
Still, the large number of rejections cannot be attributed to unintentional mistakes alone, given Sri Lankans’ political sagacity and high literacy levels. This brings us to the issue of deliberate spoiling of votes by some voters. This could be a way for some voters to protest or vent their frustration at politicians and politics, but it is a wrong approach. It is far better to vote for someone rather than waste one’s vote – if a voter does not like the Government, he or she can vote for the Opposition and vice versa. Only a valid vote can make an impact at the election, not a spoiled one.
Now that the dust has settled on the poll, the elected representatives must get to work at the grassroots level without delay, as soon as the Local Government bodies are constituted. There are plenty of issues that have been neglected since the term of Local Government bodies lapsed a couple of years ago and they came under the control of Municipal Commissioners. They are Government officials who might not have a correct grasp of the realities at ground level, unlike elected representatives.
The Local Government Councillors must now work in earnest, without demanding perks such as duty free cars and various allowances. Members of Parliament too have been clearly told that they will not get duty free car permits at least for the next few years.
In any case, giving 8,700 car permits for Local Government representatives is out of the question at a time when the economy is still recovering from the crisis of 2022. If by any chance that happens, the 20,000 or so Public Servants who are normally entitled to car permits will also raise a hue and cry, making the whole issue completely unsustainable for our economy. Thus the onus should firmly be on work, not perks.
