General election day

Over 17 million Sri Lankan voters will head to the polls today to elect 225 members to the country’s next Parliament. The election comes five weeks after they elected a new President on 21 September. The ruling National People’s Party (NPP) headed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is seeking to win a majority in the House while several Opposition parties in the fray too are seeking a strong mandate from the people.

Almost all NPP MPs who will be elected to the new Parliament will be first timers while a large number of new candidates are also contesting for other parties. There are also experienced politicians who are seeking the people’s mandate to continue to serve as MPs in the next legislature. More than 60 MPs who were in the 2020 Parliament are not contesting this year thus paving the way for new MPs.

The incumbent President won with around 43% of the vote in the last Presidential election and his party has been campaigning to get voters to give them over 113 seats that are required for a simple majority in the House. Some in the NPP have been overly ambitious seeking a two-third majority but this is an unlikely scenario given Opposition parties too are putting on a strong fight with the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) urging voters to give them a majority in the House so as to ensure that the country remains on course with its economic policies.

There is also a group of former SLPP/UNP candidates contesting under the gas cylinder symbol under which former president Ranil Wickremesinghe contested the September Presidential election. There are also smaller parties contesting in all parts of the country including the north and east.

If the NPP is to win the 113 seats, it has to improve from the 43% of the votes it got in September. While the Government has made some progress vis a vis making some arrests and seemingly cracking on corruption, a lot more has been said than done. As with any new Government, there is some extent of goodwill extended to it by the public but only after the election can it be seen if they have actually turned voters in their favour.

Some of the troubling aspects of the Government so far have been the manner in which it has easily dismissed the importance of a strong Opposition with seniors in the JVP saying that their rule is going to be so exemplary that no Opposition will be needed. We have to question if those uttering such remarks have any idea about how a parliamentary democracy functions because if they did, they would understand that in Parliament, a strong Opposition is as important as the Government. If there was no need for an Opposition, they might as well close down Parliament and live under executive orders.

The SJB has the advantage of having many experienced candidates, some of whom have not only served as ministers in the past but have also played an important role on parliamentary committees and hence having them in Parliament will be crucial.

The NPP has made it a battle cry to ‘clean up’ the Parliament but while newcomers are important, without enough experience among MPs, it will be hard for the House to function. The Parliament is a lot more than a politburo or an executive committee of a political party and there is a lot of work that goes on outside the Chamber, in committees and other groupings that help in the legislative making process. While there are many of those in previous Parliaments whose behaviour has brought disgrace to the House, it is important that they be rejected by the voters. A mix between experienced and newcomers would be the ideal composition of the new Parliament so that legislative work can be undertaken with the seriousness it deserves.

The ball is now in the court of the voters. They will decide today who their representatives will be in Parliament for the next five years.