Understanding Sri Lankan Version Of Elections – A New Dimension

By JC Weliamuna -July 16, 2012 

By JC Weliamuna -

JC Weliamuna

Another round of elections has been fixed and the country is turned into election mode. Elections are said to be a benchmark of democracy, and then why are we bothered when more and more elections are held? More and more elections, have we correspondingly increased democracy in Sri Lanka? What does an election mean and how does it help a democratic framework in a country? Is there anything new in Sri Lankan form of elections? Where are we heading to?  This article is dedicated to find some answers to these issues.

Concept of elections and Universal Suffrage

“Election” has been an immeasurable topic,   studied and analyzed from different disciplines. It has an impact directly on politics, economics and legal sphere and it is also part of international law. For example, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Article 25 guarantees “right to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections, which shall be universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing free expression of the will of the electors”.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines “election” as a formal decision making process, by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office”. They are, however, not limited to electing of representatives and officers in Executive capacity or Legislature;  in some countries even judicial officers are elected. Nevertheless, all categories of elections, including Presidential, Parliamentary, Provincial Councils and local authorities are within the legal meaning of elections.

Historically, elections were intended to elect “representatives” for oligarchic institutions. In other words, through elections, rulers were elected but “right to vote and to be elected” was limited to people distinguished by royalty, family ties, military control and wealth. That was the evolution of elections but with the emergence of the concept of suffrage, the electoral process became a totally different concept.  Suffrage is basically a question of who is entitled to vote, which is a central issue of elections.  We have witnessed historic movements of development of suffrage from a” limited group” to a “larger group” and then to include all citizens, beyond a certain age. In order to be clear, we must also not forget that there is a concept called “universal or adult suffrage”, which consists of the right to vote by all adult citizens; and where universal suffrage is accepted, the right to vote in not restricted by race, sex, belief, sexual orientation, gender, social status and wealth. Reportedly, it was in France, in 1792, that universal male suffrage was first practiced and in 1913, Norway enjoyed first full universal suffrage including for women. No far behind, in 1931 Ceylon recognized universal franchise for all above the age of 21.

Elections are generally associated with democracy and there is also a misconception that democracy resembles elections. This narrow view is no longer valid, particularly where many despotic rulers manipulate the electoral process to perpetuate their authoritarian regimes.  Even many democratic countries failed to adhere to the principles of democracy in the electoral process. Therefore, election is a concept that is not always synonymous with democracy but democracy requires, among others, the conduct of genuine, periodic, free and fair elections.   In modern democracy, what happens in between elections is as important as the election itself.

Concept of Elections in Sri Lankan Law      Read More