Beyond electoral reform

Monday, 1 November 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

It was revealed this week that both Tamil and Muslim minority political parties in the country had demanded to revert to a Proportional Representation (PR) system in the upcoming elections. The move comes after a Parliamentary Select Committee assigned to identify electoral reform had begun accepting proposals several months prior.

While the move may seem like a backward step, after having moved to a mixed member like many of our neighbours, the implementation of this had been left wanting to say the least. As such a return to a PR system would at least allow for the long delayed provincial polls to finally go ahead next year.

This however only serves as a band-aid to a much deeper issue; indeed, to achieve true electoral reform, in Sri Lanka especially, we might need to go beyond simply rejigging the system.

Electoral politics in a broad sense of term has taken a prominent place in post-colonial Sri Lanka, often being intimately tied to deeper undercurrents such as ethnicity, gender, caste and class. In a new post-war context, it has become increasingly urgent to address this issue yet again, but it cannot be seen as a salve to the broader issues mentioned earlier.

Issues raised most often are those relating to electoral violence and the problem of ‘suitable candidates’ not making it into Parliament. Experts have already noted that electoral reform will do little to curb these problems. Electoral violence is, generally speaking, a law-and-order issue and one that requires a strong, independent Police force and a Judiciary willing to prosecute instigators of violence.

Other issues such as quality of candidates can be better regulated by limiting campaign spending and thereby levelling the playing field for political candidates of varying socioeconomic backgrounds. This in turn could have a positive effect for women’s and ethnic minority representation in Parliament.

In terms of ethnic representation, the Sri Lankan Parliament has close to a quarter of its members coming from minority communities, closely reflecting the real demographics on the island. In that respect political representation for the island’s minorities has been secured, but whether this is a guarantee of political rights and equal socio-political status is another question altogether and better left answered in avenues other than the electoral system.

A more pressing issue in electoral representation is of course the representation of women in Parliament, with Sri Lanka lagging woefully behind regional counterparts despite having the world’s first female Prime Minister. Here is where electoral reform, using elements of reservation or affirmative action, can play a role in improving women’s representation – though again it would require a comprehensive social program to uplift women’s position in society.

Intellectuals have already spoken out about the simultaneous need for, and limitations of, electoral reform, and politicians would do well to listen so as to not mislead the public with mismatched politics.

In the meantime, the country’s intellectual elite also need to work harder to make this debate more accessible to the masses. After all, if the discussion at hand is one relating to democracy, then the forum itself should be as democratic as possible.