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Verdict today

Today, 12 million voters will go to the polls to elect their representatives who would constitute the Twelfth Parliament of independent Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan voters are experienced. They have won their franchise long before some of their European counterparts did. Universal suffrage was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1931. There is no doubt that the voters will make a wise decision.

Judging by the campaign that concluded last Sunday, one could observe that politics took precedence over economics. The National question took a predominant position in the campaign, though the speakers did not dwell deep into the subject.

However, consciously or not, several issues are likely to influence their decision. These include questions of peace, democracy and development.

There is not a single voter whose life is not affected by the war. The war threatens the very existence of our society. Hence, the majority would prefer a negotiated settlement to the national question.

They would also see who could deliver peace better - The President or the Leader of the Opposition. The President has an advantage in that she has a worked out formula for peace, though it is open for improvement. In the case of the Leader of the Opposition, he has no formula, except a hazy concept of an interim administration in the North and East.

Neither he, nor his Party has any insight into what lies beyond the interim administration. In such a situation the adversary is likely to get the advantage out of any negotiations.

Democracy involves many issues. Nevertheless devolution of power occupies a central place in any democratic change. Here gain, the PA has the advantage for it has a set of proposals widely discussed and acclaimed both locally and internationally.

Democracy is inseparable from human rights and individual freedom. People still have vivid memories of the dark days of terror in the late 1980s. No one would like to revisit that era. Many are likely to view the spate of killings by UNP thugs in the run up to the election as an ominous sign.

Man does not live by bread alone. He is sure to cherish the newly won freedoms during the PA administration.

Another matter that would constantly agitate the voter would be the nature of the post-election scenario. The Opposition and its new recruits are already drawing their daggers at loyalists of the PA at workplaces and in the villages and cities.

The likelihood of a constitutional crisis developing in case of Opposition victory could not be ruled out. What the country needs is stability for development and peace. An unstable society would not be able to withstand a war. It may become a pawn in the hands of global powers that may not hesitate to dismember it for their interests.

In such a situation, the intelligent voter would think twice, before taking the side of known agents of destabilization who are in the fray.

During the time of the PA Government, Sri Lanka has graduated from the position of a low-income country to that of a middle-income country. A large number of infra-structural development projects had been commissioned. It is ready for a take off at the next stage.

True, adverse external factors are a threat. Still, the Government had been able to manage the economy well, even at the height of the East Asian crisis. Even the IMF has praised Sri Lanka's prudent fiscal management.

Would Sri Lankans like to go back to the era of crony capitalism?

• Editorial of  The Observer - 4.12.2001
  A ‘Billo’ revival?

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