Tilvin Silva, the General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has stirred up a hornet’s nest by claiming that the provincial council elections which had been last held in 2014 would only be held next year, if any new issue is not cropped up.
This statement made at the opening ceremony of the JVP’s Jaffna District office on Saturday runs counter to many promises on the provincial council elections by the leaders of the National People’s Power (NPP), the coalition that has been formed by the JVP and the repeated demands by the Opposition political parties on the same.
The veteran politician had cited two reasons as obstacles to the elections as promised. He stated that despite the government having allocated funds for the provincial council elections from the last budget, the government had to spend Rs. 500 billion for the recovery and rebuilding efforts following the disastrous Cyclone Ditwah that swept the country in late November last year.
He said that another hurdle standing in the way of elections was a legal snag that has been created in 2017 by the United National Party (UNP) which was the main entity among the two ruling parties then.
Silva does not bear any responsible position in the government, nor is he a member of the officialdom to make decisions on any election, or so the Opposition parties’ argument goes. True — yet he was not deciding anything, but announcing something that has apparently been already decided by the ruling party. On the other hand, ruling parties are the ones mandated by the people to rule the country, in accordance with the policies of that party. Hence, if the NPP has concluded that the provincial elections would not be held next year, Silva as a senior leader of the NPP announcing that decision is not inappropriate.
However, his statement on the matter does not bear any legal value, as he is not authorised to make election related announcements officially. In that sense, much like statements made by any other politician, it is just political rhetoric – a common occurrence in Sri Lanka.
However, Silva is the General Secretary of the JVP, the driving force of the ruling NPP. General Secretaries of many Marxist parties or parties that claim to be Marxist in the world have been the leaders of those parties. The JVP is an exception. Its general secretary has never been the party leader except for the founder leader Rohana Wijeweera, who held both the positions of leader and general secretary during the initial years of the party. Nevertheless, since other general secretaries of the JVP were also historically powerful figures and de-facto second-in-command, Silva’s statement carries significant political weight.
It is very unlikely that the people in the country might accept the reasons the JVP General Secretary cited for the deferral of provincial elections. The funds for the election was allocated, as Silva claims, by the 2026 budget which was passed in Parliament on December 5, last year, while the Rs. 500 billion allocation for Ditwah recovery was made through a separate supplementary estimate approved by Parliament on December 19. Budget allocations were not supposed to be affected by Ditwah recovery efforts.
Besides, it is said that provincial council elections would cost only about Rs. 10 billion, one fiftieth of the amount supposed to be spent on Ditwah recovery and rebuilding. It shows that financial constraints are not an issue hindering the elections.
The NPP in its 2024 election manifesto titled “A thriving Nation, a Beautiful Life” pledged that “Provincial councils and local government elections, which are currently postponed indefinitely, will be held within a year to provide an opportunity for the people to join the governance.” The promise was made knowing well that the Presidential and Parliamentary elections would have to precede provincial and local government elections. But the pledge in the manifesto was not materialised.
Cabinet spokesman and Media Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa told the media on April 1, last year that provincial council elections have to be postponed due to legal issues and financial constraints in the face of three island wide elections having been already held within eight months. Now, Tilvin Silva is parroting the same. However, Minister Jayatissa, in a damage control move, had later on Tuesday told that funding the election is not an issue.
The 11-member Parliamentary select committee appointed to resolve legal snags is the government’s only defence against accusations regarding the delayed PC elections. Yet, it must be noted that the committee was appointed only in February, this year, ten months after Dr. Jayatissa’s above statement and 15 months after the NPP government assumed office.
It was the United National Party (UNP) led government that created this legal muddle in 2017, intentionally to evade provincial council elections. They introduced the mixed electoral system for provincial councils and presented a flawed delimitation report under it in Parliament. The House rejected it, interestingly with even Minister Faiszer Mustapha who presented it hilariously voting against it.
PC elections a non-event
Although the law required the Prime Minister to submit a review report in Parliament within two months, the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe never heeded it, forcing the PC elections to be a nonevent indefinitely. The UNP did so in fear of defeat. The current Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) cannot absolve themselves from this undemocratic step as it is an offshoot of that very ruling party, the UNP.
Then, Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) Parliamentarian M.A.Sumanthiran presented a private member’s Bill to conduct PC elections under the old Proportional Representation (PR) system in 2023. Wickremesinghe, this time as the President, and his Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) dominated government ignored it, despite it having been sanctioned by the Supreme Court.
Ludicrously, these are the parties that put pressure now on the NPP government to hold the PC elections.
The NPP seems to be dragging its feet in respect of PC elections for fear of defeat or a less impactful victory. The party seems to be of the view that any result – victory or defeat – would be a trend-setter at the next Presidential and Parliamentary elections which would most probably be the case.
Irrespective of its failures in many issues, the NPP government is still ahead of previous governments in terms of governance. It has managed to maintain macroeconomic stability after the recent economic crisis. Almost all major revenue sources — exports, tourism, migrant remittances, Customs, Excise Department and Inland Revenue Department — are continuing to show remarkable progress. However, the Opposition parties seem to have won the day by way of portraying the government as a failed, inexperienced administration in such a negative way that even supporters of the government are bewildered.
Source:Daily Mirror.lk