The man and the hour An interview with the Elections Commissioner

The man and the hour
An interview with the Elections Commissioner
March 28, 2015, 5:50 pm

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Pic by maheen Senanayake

by Maheen Senanayake

I had tried several times to meet him. He too, in all fairness, made a valiant effort to make time for me. It had been almost a month since we set out to meet. Finally the day had come. I arrived 15 minutes early at his office on a public holiday. Shown into his room, my attention was drawn to the huge map mounted on a wall below the pictures of his predecessors. Seated at his desk, the man most called Maco – short for MethiwaranaCommasaris (Elections Commissioner in Sinhala) – Mahinda Deshapriya sat at his desk, fountain pen in hand, running through a file. He was busy. Genuinely busy. Every so often his staff would interrupt him for this and that. None were kept out. His door appeared to be open to all. Despite the continuous interruptions, he continued to work and talk with me unfazed. His ability to switch from an interruption back to our discussion maintaining the discussion thread fascinated me. Here is his story.

Q: Many say that the election hinged on your performance. How would you comment on that?

A: I see this differently. Do you think that people would be praising me if the result had been different? Do you think that the people could have separated themselves from their emotions and have said `he did all he could to conduct a free and fair election but the people have spoken?’ I am not so sure. My department worked as it did at previous elections. The only difference is we took an active interest in promoting the activities of the department. For instance we had a padayathra from the Divisional Secretary’s office to my office in Rajagiriya promoting the activities of the department. We wanted to engage the young and we wanted the people to exercise their franchise. We had to reach the people and increase awareness of the fact that we would look after the elections if only they would take the trouble to go out there and vote. Our campaign centered on several issues. We told the people that their vote was their right. We ensured that people knew that no one could trace how they voted. We also told them to go early to the polling stations. Ultimately we managed to garner the biggest voter turnout in the history of this country.

Q: Did anyone praise you before the election?

A: Well a few party leaders including from the UNP, the JVP and a few other members met me before the elections and thanked the department and me for our efforts to conduct a free and fair election. But then again, not everyone was happy.

Q: You have tried to name some those key people who assisted the department since we started this discussion. Who were they?

A: Actually there were a lot of people. This was a team effort. But some people, I have to name. I would like to thank Mr. Gamini Dissanayake, DIG Legal, DIG P B Nikahetiya, DIG LHG Cooray, Commmandant Field force HQ. and my team of Additional Elecitons Commissioners who were like pillars to me; Mr. Amaradasa, Ananda Ratnayake, and Usman Mohamed. I must also mention here the one and only female Assistant Commissioner, Ms. Chinta Dissanayake. She is the only female Asst. Commissioner since 1947.

Q: What was so significant about 1947?

A: Well in 1947 we held our first parliamentary elections but then there were two departments - the Department of Parliamentary Elections and the Department of Local Government Elections. Ultimately in 1956 there was an amalgamation of the two departments. And next year we will be celebrating the diamond jubilee of the department.

Q: Can we talk about the challenges you faced? What do you intend to do about all the violations that we experienced during that period?

A: As you know I together with my team believed that we had to do whatever that we could within the powers vested in me and the department to conduct a free and fair election. We took hitherto unimaginable decisions. For instance we took over the public parks when the then government attempted to deny the opposition public spaces for political meetings. But sadly there is no mechanism available to me to deal with the issues that we were not able to deal with during the elections.

So the consultative committee on election law reform which met yesterday is taking decisive action against election violations reported during the last presidential election held on January 8, 2015. We have to do this to ensure that the lessons learnt from the last election effectively contribute to make future elections better. Towards this end the Elections Department is giving leadership to the Consultative Committee on Election Law Reform to take decisive action against those who violated election laws during the last election. The permanent committee which is represented by five of the six recognized election monitors and representatives of the currently active political parties out of the 64 registered parties has regularly met every Friday during the last few months.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the chief violator of election laws, during the last election is also represented in the committee which is first taking action against those involved in the more serious violations including the engagement of Ministry Secretaries and state property for election work. As regards the Ministry Secretaries we are hoping to seek an amendment to the service minute as applicable to them with the support of the Ministry of Public Administration to ensure that even politically appointed personnel to such posts are governed by the Establishment Code.

Q: Can you give me a specific example of a challenging situation you had to face?

A: For instance when ITN - as you know is a state owned television channel, was being very unfair by the then opposition I wrote to the chairman. He was one person who was obstructing the conduct of free and fair elections. I instructed him to stop slinging mud at the opposition candidate in particular. He wrote back to me asking me what authority I had (to make that directive). On one hand (the reply) is reflective of the kind of person he is and his ignorance. But on the other hand, to deal with this type of activity the committee has decided to refer this matter to different authorities. For instance the Human Rights Commission and the Auditor General can do a lot in this area.

The mandate of the Human Rights Commission is to address issues dealing with fundamental rights. As the Supreme Court has ruled, ‘Franchise’ and anything relating to Franchise is also a fundamental right. So these matters may very well fall within the purview of the Human Rights Commission.

For instance it is Parliament which has control authority over the consolidated fund and the Auditor General is the individual who is entrusted with the control of its proper management. Therefore, violations, especially misappropriation of funds, could be dealt with through the Auditor General’s Department’s involvement. The Auditor General is expected to account for expenses from the consolidated fund as well as review from where and whether the right inputs to the consolidated fund has taken place.

Q: You mentioned how the police supported you in the discharge of duties of your department. Is there an individual that you can name whose contribution you would say was paramount?

A: Yes, I would say Senior DIG Gamini Navaratne’s contribution was exemplary. He did a thankless job. He was responsible for all the successes but no one ever thanked him. So I would say his service was truly remarkable. Everyone mentions my name, the IGP and several others but he remained in the background where media was concerned but was in the frontline where the job was concerned.

Another Police Officer, DIG (Legal) Gamini Dissanayake rendered great service during the last election. Then there was DIG P B Nikahetiya. These gentlemen together with my Additional Commissioners, U. Amaradasa, Ananda Ratnayake, Usman Mohamed rendered a silent service to this nation. And it is my duty to name them personally. However, I must say though I am naming a few here, everyone in the public service contributed immensely to make this election a success.

Q: You mentioned a lady Assistant Commissioner. Who is she?

A: She is Chinta Dissanayake and is the only woman Assistant Commissioner of Elections in the history of the department. (I make a note to interview her soon. I am keen to know what life had been like for her in a man’s world One of hisAassistantCcommissioners interrupt for an urgent opinion and direction as a bird continues to peck on one of his windows. He looks a me in a way that says the bird is a frequent visitor.)

I take in the enormous map mounted on the wall. I am certain it is the only one of its kind. As his staff move out of his office, I ask him about the map.

Q: Is this the only map of its kind? Does the Surveyor General have one?

A: It’s the only one of its kind. The Surveyor General now has a digital map.

Q: Can you tell me a little bit more about the level of corruption during the election as well as misuse of public property?

A: Well for instance there was the SLTB, the Air Force, then the ITN and SLRC stations, SLBC and Lake House. These are all institutions not paid (for commercial services provided) and denied revenue. This is why we are saying that the Auditor General is responsible for this in the sense that the AG has the authority to look into these institutions and report on any misappropriation which can then lead to charges.

Q: Where is the SLBC Chairman?

A: He laughs out aloud. I can’t help it his laugh is infectious. (We scare the bird at the window away).

Q: So what are your recommendations?

A: Well precisely speaking we are requesting that public officials who are capable of managing public institutions should be appointed to these administrative positions. Political appointees should not be brought into these areas. Public officials guided by the Administrative Regulations and Financial Regulations then can be held accountable for the management of these institutions. The corruption that we saw would not have taken place if public officials had been entrusted the task of management of these public bodies. It is very likely that it was the political appointees who would have been most likely to contribute to this situation.

Our committee’s opinion is that unless we do this, we will never be able to avoid this situation. This really is the crux of the recommendations of the committee.

I want to add that these decisions were initially taken long before the election.

This was not a sole outcome

of post-election thinking. These recommendations were thought through long before the election and what happened during the election only confirmed the need for implementing these recommendations even more. And the best part is that members of the committee, who as I explained were from the political parties including the UPFA, had agreed to implement these recommendations even prior to the elections.

Q: What was the most important thing in this election?

A: A lot of people are saying that social media played a huge role and that it was the game changer. I would say that social media played a role. But social media played a role because youth engaged. We were able to engage youth and they in turn activated social media. Youth engagement was the single most important thing that we were able to deliver at this election. Youth of 20 – 30-years after a long time took an interest in politics and became part of a nation’s choice. When we were young and in university, we were very involved in politics. Thereafter, in the late eighties, despite political engagement of youth in the university few took an active interest after they left. But this time youth, be they university students or not, were involved, even in the villages. Also you must realize that most young people now have a phone and in some cases they provide internet access. So communication was a key aspect of this election and the message reached far and wide.

The greatest victor was not the winning candidate. It was the people because after a very long time we were able to generate an interest among the youth of this country in the political affairs of this country. Youth considered politics to be almost like ‘leprosy’ – even coming into contact with it was considered a very low level thing. But this was the game changer. We created `People Power’ for the first time.

For instance I must tell you that youth took such an interest that if I used the wrong word in talking to the media they took the trouble to put me right and let me know of it. I am so thankful to the youth of this country for that. They in fact guided me. This was the level of interest they took in politics.

Q: Didn’t youth at one time consider Election Day only as a holiday?

A: Yes, but this time there was so much interest in voter rights. They took an interest in casting their vote and exercising their decision. In fact I know a couple who would generally not go anywhere without a vehicle who traveled by bus to Galle and back to cast their vote.

I must also thank the media including Shamindra Ferdinando from The Island who played a huge role in taking the message to the people.

Q: Wasn’t there fear instilled among village folk about the elections?

A: Yes there was but we gave a lot of airtime to the fact that the IGP had assured the protection of the voter and his or her rights. We also stressed that no one can find out how you voted. This I think was a very important message.

Q: Now that the elections are over, do you feel happy?

A: Yes, I did my job. Some praise us, some criticize us but you know in Buddhism they say that you must treat both alike. They are passing states.

Let me tell you something that Mr. Felix Dias Abeysinghe (a former Commissioner of Elections) had said. Those days the senior most administrator was the Secretary to the Treasury (not Secretary to the President). From the Secretary to the Treasury to the daily paid sanitary labourer, all must work together and that is why this election was such a success. That is why we had the highest voter turnout.

Q: I thought that your job was the most dangerous of all public service jobs. How do you see it?

A: All right..again I say this. What if having worked in this same manner, and the result was different - what do you think the people will say? I think the answer lies there.

Mr. Wijedasa Rajapakshe met me and said that whatever the result, we are aware that you have discharged your duties to the best of your ability. Then Mr. Ananda Manawadu, who was with me at Peradeniya, said "We scolded you and criticized you in the earlier days of the election but now we know for certain that you did your best and more."

We spoke a little more about his schools. It turned out he was from my mother’s ancestral neighbourhood in Ambalangoda. He was a greatly opinionated man but always open to discussion- perhaps one of the most interesting public servants I had met in a very long time.

I left Rajagiriya that day with a heavy hear - after all results could swing any way. How much more respect I now have for the public servant. Survival in that jungle must surely take a lot. No wonder gentlemen and gentlewomen in the Civil and Overseas Sservices were then called members of the prestigious … All it had taken was for one man to rise to the occasion to change a nation and he was from Ambalangoda.
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