HELP VOTERS CLEAN THE HOUSE

Now it is time for our political party leaders to walk the talk.

The time for nominations for the forthcoming general elections has come. The quality of politicians elected to Parliament has been evidently deteriorating. Even many Parliamentarians themselves had admitted the same in public.

One United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Parliamentarian, who now is a staunch supporter of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, once told Parliament that drug barons, thugs and rapists had entered the House.

Therefore, it is now up to the political party leaders and the party nomination committees to select candidates with decent track records to be nominated for Parliament.

Or else, the political culture of this country is unlikely to undergo any change for the better.

If the party leaders think that the depriving of nominations to some of the existing Members of Parliament—who have dismal track records— would risk losing out on votes, as they are considered vigorous campaigners, we believe it is a risk worth taking.

Because once it is proved, it is not the case; these politicians cannot hold their parties at ransom. We believe the party leaders should boldly back the right candidate and intelligent people of this country would take care of the rest.

There are news items quoting United National Party politicians as saying that they would field ‘popular personalities’ in the upcoming Parliamentary elections.

We believe by saying ‘popular personalities’ they didn’t mean actors and sportsmen.

We have enough actors in the House to make a boring movie nobody wants to watch and sportsmen, especially cricketers, to start a coaching academy.

What the country needs is not ‘popular characters’ but brilliant professionals in their respective fields, who could contribute to the betterment of this country with their expertise.

Popularity is definitely a vital part in winning an election. But, that’s not all. Substance is another critical aspect that we cannot ignore.

Along with the nomination committees of political parties, the voters also have an important role to play.

The last Presidential election aptly demonstrated that the Sri Lankan voter had politically matured.

Despite the undue advantages President Mahinda Rajapaksa had with the support of the entire State machinery and vast financial resources at his disposal, the underdog Maithripala Sirisena was voted in.

Hence, it is the duty of voters, as much as the duty of the party leaders and nomination committees, to send the right candidates to Parliament.

Meanwhile, political campaign financing laws are another vital area Sri Lanka should pay its attention to.

While changing the electoral system, attention should be paid to introducing campaign financing laws, so that nobody would get an undue advantage over the large amount of resources he or she would utilise in the election campaign.

These laws will limit the amount of money spent during an election by a candidate and could make the entire financing process transparent, by way of mandatory disclosures.

We hope the new government, while bringing in all the much-needed electoral and other constitutional reforms, would also look at introducing campaign financing rules as soon as possible to mark a positive change in Sri Lanka’s political culture.