Postponement of polls: Democracy's red flag

Without much ado, the Government appears on the verge of postponing the elections to the 340 municipal, urban and smaller local councils whose terms would lapse in April next year. They will be given an extended one year by powers vested with the minister in charge. There's hardly a whimper of protest from the Opposition. Nobody seems that keen on elections -- or the elected.

At least, the Government has not planned to dissolve these elected bodies and appoint Special Commissioners as was done on occasion in the past. That had its merits and demerits, depending on the appointee. But it went against the grain of democracy and elected representation of the people.

The recent Budget was a forerunner to this move when the Finance Minister, who is also the main strategist of the ruling coalition, announced the disbursement of funds for next year. He allocated Rs. 19 billion to be shared by local councillors, irrespective of party links - though most of the councils are already in the hands of the ruling parties. Rs. 42 billion at the rate of Rs. 3 million each was also allocated to the Grama Sevaka Divisions to be spent in each village in consultation with the local community.

However unpopular the Government is today, the occasional call for elections is a voice in the wilderness. The people seem to have had enough of it, at least at this point in time. Billions are spent on electing those who promise the moon and all the masses get in return is 'jack squat'. The Government appears in no mood to test the waters over its plummeting popularity and its much vaunted 6.9 million votes. They need to buy time in the hope that the state of the economy will only get better, not worse in the coming year. The Opposition might merely want an election at the grassroots level to energise its campaign for the big push come the 2024 Presidential pick.

In this backdrop, despite all the brouhaha over the long postponed Provincial Council elections, and the whole world waiting for amendments to the Election Laws to hold them, the Government is clearly not prepared to risk one either. This is also not a bad thing because what is needed is not electoral reforms but devolution reforms and a complete rewiring of the Provincial Council system which another country wants more than this country.

Whatever the ground realities, and justifications, postponing elections to elected bodies is per se bad, and given this Government's mindset, as perceived not only in parts of the western world, but locally as well, such a course of action is a red flag. The US has snubbed Sri Lanka and lumped it with Afghanistan from South Asia to be left out from a virtual summit on "Democracy" under the auspices of the White House. In the UK, a report from its Foreign & Commonwealth Office refers to a deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka and warns of trends towards a worsening situation. Locally, the 20th Amendment and all its ramifications is the bugbear.