Elections Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya is one of most popular figures in this country- much respected for his forthrightness and liked for his pithy remarks on matters political. This time too he has been showered with plaudits from all sides for the successful handling of the Presidential Election.
Hence, it came as no surprise that all political parties want him to stay on when he has decided to retire even before the expiry of his tenure. He has already conveyed his decision both to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. This is before representatives of the SLFP, SLPP and the UNP who officially met Deshapriya on Wednesday tried to persuade him not to step down from the post until his tenure runs through till November 2020.
On the contrary one recalls, his predecessor Dayananda Dissanayake being forced to remain in the post, even after his retirement, under the circumstances that prevailed and pleaded to be relieved of his office at the swearing in of Mahinda Rajapaksa as President in 2005. The reason adduced for his eagerness to quit was the tension (aathathiya) in the job, hemmed as he was from all sides.
Deshapriya came in for high praise for his stellar role in acting even handedly at the 2015 Presidential Election at a time when none of the present safeguards to ensure a free and fair election was in existence. There was no Independent Elections Commission or an Independent Police Commission at the time. Deshapriya, however, stood his ground and led from the front to ensure a level playing field to the best of his ability.
When asked by a journalist at a media conference if he had ordered the police to shoot individuals who may storm the polling booths his prompt reply was “why below the knee? I ask that they be shot through the head (oluwatama thiyanda).” Last year armed with full powers he was able to conduct a free and fair and incident free Local Government Election where there was not even a whiff of a complaint from the Opposition which went on to prevail at that election, for the first time inflicting defeat on the ruling party at an LG poll.
No Election Commissioner before this had such a visible presence as Mahinda Deshapriya so much so he gained prominent media attention even during times there were no elections on the horizon (he was grist to the mill of newspaper cartoonists and lampoon artistes). He was a dream for pressmen looking for juicy copy - his quotes and quips being rarely out of the newspaper headlines. Incidentally, one of his own brothers is a well-known journalist and Deshapriya has an innate ability to make newsworthy statements that can be printed verbatim. He was hardly the quintessential bureaucrat who so dispensed with all formalities and brought in a homely atmosphere to his official work.
One could say he has even attained celebrity status, being invited as a special guest at a gala cricket awards ceremony where he took centre stage amidst our national cricket heroes - the first time that an Election Commissioner or arguably any bureaucrat, had graced such an occasion.
He is also famous for his ready wit. On one occasion when he was described as the Man of the Match after overseeing a successfully concluded election his prompt reply was that he was only the groundsman, implying he ensured a level playing field. His other marked feature is his unorthodox bearing, even to the detail of his personal attire, breaking with the traditional Western tie and coat- the standard bureaucrat’s wear.
With the General Elections round the corner, it will be best if Elections Commission Chairman Deshapriya reconsiders his position and stays on. More so since he has gained the confidence of both the Government and the Opposition so that no allegations could be laid against him as far as the results are concerned. Unlike his predecessors, Chairman Deshapriya is also the only Elections Commission Chief in this country who has played a pro-active role urging the powers that be to hold elections at the due time.
One of his first requests to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after declaring the latter winner was a promise to hold the long overdue Provincial Council elections. In that sense it could also be said that he was an ardent promoter of democracy. In any case for the public who are used to suffer stuffy bureaucrats, Mahinda Deshapriya certainly represented a fresh breath of air - a character that would be hard to come by among public servants. Let’s hope that he stays on for the greatest good of the greatest number.
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