That President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has enjoined all SLPP candidates not to use his picture in their posters during the General Election campaign is not surprising after he told all State officials early this month not to get involved in electioneering in any manner.
A media release issued by the Presidential Secretariat states that the President had issued strict instructions to all SLPP candidates and supporters not to use his picture in their posters and also reiterated his earlier call to Government officials to stay out of campaigning for any party or group in the run up to the election.
This is as it should be. A candidate worth his salt should be able to stand up on his own steam instead seeking a prop to boost his chances. Of course President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the most popular political brand going around and candidates of the governing party cannot be faulted for attempting to bask in his popularity to enhance their chances of victory. It is well known that candidates resort to all kinds of gimmicks to win and this is true even of past elections.
This was a time before the Proportional Representation (PR) system came into being. Then, rival political candidates fought it out among themselves, hardly depending on their leaders to secure their victory. However the PR system and the Manapey battle changed all that. Now, with inter party rivalry as fierce, if not more, than intra party rivalry, candidates of a party invariably are compelled seek recourse to their leaders’ influence to come up on top of their compatriots.
Therefore it won’t be surprising at all if ruling party candidates try to outdo each other by demonstrating their closeness and allegiance to the President in one way or the other. This has been the trend at all past elections since the advent of the PR system and should be discouraged.
For one thing, a majority of the candidates fielded in this election from all parties are more or less the same faces that formed the last Parliament. Needless to say, some of them carry with them unsavoury reputations but their parties are compelled to offer them nominations due to their popularity with the voters and/or their so called skilled oratory on the political stage. The leaders of their respective parties may not exactly want to be seen with such elements.
As for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, long before the elections he had ordered no picture or portrait of his be placed in any Government institution as in the past indicating his personal dislike for ostentation and cheap popularity.
The same reasoning may have been behind his ordering SLPP candidates not to display his picture in any of their posters. Buttressing this thinking is the fact that candidates who are this time restricted by the health guidelines following the Coronavirus pandemic may have, in all probability, gone all out to be seen pictured with the President who tackled the danger with great efficiency and aplomb with the fullest support of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ministers, health staff and Security Forces. Exploiting this, a rash of posters depicting his picture would have been a very real possibility.
Even his worst critic would concede that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure so far has been marked with simplicity and modesty. His swearing in, inauguration of Parliament as the new President and even his first foreign visit as Head of State were all marked by this unpretentious simplicity. Now, with the unprecedented step of getting his candidates to desist from carrying his picture in their posters and other material at the election campaign, while causing dismay and heartburn to the candidates concerned nevertheless is a signal that he will not condone outward shows and trappings but only hard work and dedication will matter most.
His decision not to permit state officials to involve themselves in the election campaign is also a clear signal that what he expects from them is work rather than party politics. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who had effected many changes since assuming duties to ensure clean governance and eliminate waste has no doubt spotted the flaws inherent in having Government officials getting involved in election work to the neglect of their official duties and functions.
Besides, State officials getting directly involved in election work also entails waste in that State resources necessarily will have to be used and this is one aspect which the President strongly feels about.
The President’s directive to keep public officials on a leash no doubt is a timely one that would salvage scarce public resources at a time the national economy is in dire straits as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. His edict not to display his picture in election posters too may lead to salvaging State resources given that printing of such posters for the governing party is more often than not done with public funds by many candidates.
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