Monday, 5 January 2015 00:00
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Fevered campaigning will wind down today as both key candidates officially hold their final rallies and make last minute appeals to voters for a chance to lead Sri Lanka into the next decade.
More than 14.5 million Sri Lankans are eligible to cast their votes at Thursday’s crucial presidential election, the seventh since the introduction of the executive presidential system in 1978. Incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa and New Democratic Front (NDF) common Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena are the main contenders though 17 others are also in the fray.
The Elections Department has put in place elaborate arrangements to ensure that the election is conducted smoothly while special security arrangements too have been put in place by the Police and the security forces. Across the country, 12,324 polling booths have been set up and polling will take place between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. on 8 January. For security, 71,100 Police personnel, including 5,000 Special Task Force personnel, will be deployed, while 55 riot squads too will be on standby.
The security at the counting centres will be entrusted to the STF while three Police personnel will be deployed to each polling booth. More than 100 international monitors are in the country to observe the poll. They include a team from the Commonwealth Secretariat. There will be 1,400 counting centres. For the first time 3,000 special officials will also be posted to monitor polling stations and report on any law violations. They have also been empowered to appeal for votes to be cancelled if any malpractices are suspected.
Meanwhile, the whirlwind campaign for Thursday’s presidential election which began less than a month ago will end at midnight with the two main candidates winding up their campaigns by holding a series of public rallies. Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has said it is vital that a two-day period of calm prevails before the poll to enable the voter to contemplate the promises made by the two candidates.
Voters are certainly faced with a tough choice. Rajapaksa, despite enjoying many plaudits for ending the war, has nonetheless raised serious concerns over a host of issues, including corruption, nepotism, undermining the judicial system and delivering long-term economic growth. Despite pledging to combat corruption on stage and in his latest manifesto and even going so far as to pledge a new Constitution, if stakeholders back it, there is little credibility behind the promises made by President Rajapaksa. Detractors would say the same could be said of Sirisena.
In the Opposition camp, strange bedfellows are currently coming to a common platform, at least on the surface. Can they keep this focus and guide the country through what will undoubtedly be a very challenging time? A Parliamentary election will likely follow the presidential election and while the democratic process is welcome, it also comes with the dangers of instability. Promises are easy to make during a campaign but much harder to keep once the votes have been counted.
Millions of voters will have much to think about during the next two days. It will be a trying time for law enforcement as well as Sri Lanka takes a look a good long hard look at what could lie ahead.
