Efforts to politicise financial allocations to Local Government authorities

President Anura Kumara Disanayake’s veiled threats to cut off funding to Local Government (LG) bodies that will not be controlled by the ruling party NPP has created a political hullabaloo whilst creating bemusement among activists who expected virtues of exemplary public governance by those who promised an era of renaissance and a break from the business as usual.  

During public meetings held in Kantale, Mannar, and several other areas, Disanayake declared that he would readily allocate funds to local government institutions governed by the NPP, but he had claimed that he would think 10 times before extending financial grants to LG institutions that are not run by the NPP. In the aftermath of the controversy, Chairman of the Election Commission Ananda Ratnayake is reported to have sent a letter to the President, requesting him to refrain from making such remarks that could potentially lead to undue political influence. 

Many election observation organisations had pointed out that the Head of State’s remarks may violate the provisions of the Local Government Elections Act, specifically Sections 92C (Undue Influence) and 82D (Promises of Maximum Advantage). Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) Chief Operating Officer Professor Arjuna Parakrama had emphasised that the presidential utterances undermine electoral fairness apart from intimidating voters who are not aligned with his political outfit.

NPP leaders, including the President, had asserted on numerous occasions that the NPP is a political force which is completely devoid of corruption and foul play while maintaining all other political outfits are corrupt and insincere. Under what basis can the President make such a seemingly grandiose and hoity-toity statement? Corruption is a human activity which is widespread in the Sri Lankan society, encompassing all social layers, and no one can expect candidates, who are not nationally known and contesting for the lowest layer of political authority in the republic, to be squeaky clean irrespective of their political affiliations. 

The NPP is vociferously insisting that overwhelming majority of the non-NPP candidates who are contesting for the LG bodies are financially dishonest. Making such a generalisation is bereft of reason and rationale and moreover if it is actually the case, the ruling party needs to disclose who such corrupt candidates are without branding all their opponents as cheats.

Both the President and the administration cannot proclaim themselves holier-than-thou given various incidents that took place since they came to power last year. The resignation of Ashoka Ranwala – a long-time, cadre-based JVP politician – from the coveted post of Speaker over allegations of falsely claiming a PhD is still fresh in the minds of people. At the time of Ranwala’s resignation, the Government maintained that the Gampaha District MP was in possession of a doctorate, but he had not obtained the academic certificate from Waseda University – Japan. Although more than three months have passed since the allegation came into light, the JVP/NPP trade unionist has failed to provide documentary evidence to verify his doctorate.

There is all the likelihood for Tamil and Muslim political parties to take control of a reasonable number of local councils in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. In the event what ruling party politicians say becomes true, LG bodies in areas dominated by ethnic minorities would be left with limited funding which would create ethnic disharmony and other unwarranted problems. Despite the President not having constitutional authority on financial allocations, his ability to influence in respect of financial allocations is significant as he is the leader of the ruling party besides being Minister of Finance.

Politicising financial allocations to municipal and urban councils is certainly not a feature of an era of renaissance but a continuation of the typical, regressive politics the country has witnessed for decades. The NPP was voted to abandon such practices instead of continuing further.