Editorial
August 20, 2013, 12:00 pm
Close on the heels of a call by election monitors for all political parties to act with restraint in the run-up to the PC polls and help minimise the incidence of violence, comes the news of a bloody clash between two pro-government groups campaigning for candidates backed by Minister A. Thondaman and his rival MP P. Digambaram in the Central Province.
Monday’s battle in Kotagala demonstrates how violent UPFA politicians could become when they feel their interests are threatened. The incident left several persons injured and about 15 vehicles damaged, as we reported yesterday. Thondaman and Digambaram accuse each other of having instigated the clash. If this is the way the UPFA politicians and their backers fight for preferential votes, how ruthlessly they will suppress the oppositional forces to retain power is not difficult to imagine.
The fact that most election-related clashes reported so far are among UPFA candidates and their supporters cannot, in anyway, be cited in extenuation of the severity of those offences which amount to blatant violations of election laws. Some government bigwigs have, in their media statements, implied that the ruling coalition’s intraparty battles are not to be taken seriously because no outsiders are affected. Trigger-happy ruling party politicians and their violent goons responsible for many a crime may have the pleasure of attacking one another, but not in public places.
It is imperative that the police take stern action against those responsible for incidents such as Monday’s clash. Else, the situation is likely to take a turn for the worse within the next few days as the competition hots up further. At this rate, there is the likelihood of even lives being lost.
A minister has boastfully attributed the internecine violence UPFA politicians unleash against one another to the absence of a stiff competition between the government and the Opposition. Those ensconced in power tend to make the mistake of underestimating their rivals. They need to realise that most fatal accidents occur when roads are clear because drivers tend to throw caution to the winds and be reckless. Politicians intoxicated with power with little resistance from the Opposition also act in a similar manner. Complacency at times leads to disaster. This, we have seen on several occasions.
The SLFP-led United Front government crashed in 1977 due to its own blunders rather than anything else. It became so cocky that it rode rough shod over the public and made them go through hell by imposing various bans and restrictions much to their consternation. At the general election in that year, even mediocre UNP politicians in the fray won hands down. Towards the end of 1980s the UNP became its own enemy and dug itself into a hole because it was overconfident and the Opposition was weak. It thought the sky was the limit. Resistance emerged from within and the then monolithic UNP government suffered a debilitating split with a section of its parliamentary group trying to impeach President Ranasinghe Premadasa albeit in vain. The UNP never recovered from the subsequent breakaway of Lalith, Gamini and Premachandra. Power fell into the SLFP’s lap following President Premadasa’s assassination. The UNP even lost the Colombo Central electorate at the presidential election in 1994. The SLFP-led People’s Alliance ruined things for itself in such a way that the UNP formed a government again in 2001. The SLFP also lost the stronghold of the Bandaranaikes, Attanagalla at the 2002 local government election. All it takes to end a prolonged spell of drought is a single shower as a pithy local saying goes.
The question is how a government that cannot rein in its politicians and supporters going for each other’s jugular could ensure that elections to be held will be free and fair.
