Ghost Voters
Sinnathamby Sivanandan
“Politics have no relation to morals” -Niccolo Machiavelli
Vote rigging and the rig-marole in ballots, and bullets playing an important role in the election and selection of main actors to win “Dinaganna” and to go to “Diyawanna” are not something new to Sri Lanka.
As everyone knows, in the recent past the de facto state of the North and East was controlled by the Tigers, the voters were muzzled at bayonet point from exercising their sovereign franchise. In the Presidential elections this became a huge plus to the majority party to which the “Tiger Supremo” was aligned and a minus point to the other opposition candidate to ascend to the throne.
I do not want to touch the + ve and –ve sides of the terminal as it may spark controversies which may not be palatable to some. That is the fate of the paradise isle now, once with a vibrant democracy when we were young, before the youth revolutions and unrest which followed. The “Host International Monitors” who come to monitor elections are not much aware of this breed of “Ghost Voters”. Unless an effective mechanism is put in place, plugging loopholes the indelible ink in the little finger alone will not work!
The candidates who polled a meager less than 100 votes in the northern peninsula entered the portals of Diyawanna to represent the Jaffna constituency which was earlier represented by the renowned doctor from the medical fraternity Dr. E.M.V. Naganathan known as “Iron Man” with a will of steel who faced the “Galle Face” Satyagraha and then the one in front of “Jaffna Kachcheri” when my good friend the 2CLI Captain Janakan’s dad Mylvaganam Srikhanta, the elite Civil Servant from the CCS breed was the GA Jaffna. The legal luminary G.G. Ponnambalam and the retired Supreme Court Judge C.X. Martin from the salubrious climes of Colombo7 also represented the Jaffna Constituency with their limited fluency in Tamil Language. That was the time Yakkas and Nagas (Senanayake/Bandaranaike) were ruling the country. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam with his fragile constitution was leading the Federal Party.
Present Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran also wore the silk and wig and like King Solomon dispensed justice during his period on bench. He by virtue of the marriage of his child has now become a kinsman of the strong and staunch leftist politician Vasudeva Nanayakkara, now centre left. I am afraid whether I am right or wrong, even if regional autonomy is denied, it is a step towards union of regions and religions! Read More
