Elections that were held on 06 May last for delayed LG elections, was no election system suitable to establish democratic LG bodies. That electoral system with many incompatibles, fits in nowhere. So much so, even the women’s quota guaranteed, cannot be assured within this election system.
LG bodies are established as the lowest tier in our 03 tier, representative democratic governance system. It is easily the most grounded elected body with people’s representation, below the second elected tier, the Provincial Councils (PC). LG bodies should be elected to improve and develop well being and comfort of people in the area under the LG body. What is therefore important is to have a simple election process that allows for a direct vote in electing people’s representatives, with no confusions and complications.
At LG elections, the “Voter” should have the right to elect a representative of his or her choice to the “Ward” he or she is resident of. That voter right should not be muddled up with other provisions like “party first, proportional representation, women’s quota” and the like. The direct voting system that is referred to here, should be quite familiar to those who voted at the 1977 general elections and in elections prior to 1977. It is still being practised in the UK, in India and in many other democratic nation States. It is commonly spoken of as the “First Past the Post” (FPP) voting system. In LG elections what is important in having the FPP voting system is, irrespective of the political party the elected representative is usually known to all voters in the ward and is therefore held responsible to the voter in the ward.
What we need to understand is, PM Jayawardene of the UNP government elected with a mammoth majority in 1977, first used that massive parliamentary majority to adopt the 1978 Constitution with an all-powerful Executive Presidency for himself, relieved of direct responsibility to the people. With the free-market economy introduced in 1978, he also wanted a parliament that could not be held responsible to the people. Thus, his introduction of this election system with a largely expanded polling district instead of the previous single electorate with proportional representation calculated on votes the political party would get, left MPs at a distance from the voter.
This proportional representation based on votes the political party gets, has eroded “sovereignty” of the people in our representative democracy. Our Constitution ensures sovereignty of the people as “inalienable” in Chapter I under Section 03 and says, sovereignty “includes the powers of government, fundamental rights and the franchise”.
“Franchise” is accepted as valid only till the representative MP elected by the voter can be held responsible to the voter. When proportional electoral system introduced by Jayawardene erodes the responsibility of the “elected” MP to the voter, “sovereignty” of the people too erodes, accordingly. Therefore, all elections held after 1989 February were mere procedural elections and not functional. Although the voter is told, casting of the vote is a citizen’s right and a duty, these elections had no content for such validity.
Therefore, this wholly irrelevant mixed electoral system should be scrapped immediately to establish functional democratic LG bodies with people’s representatives as Councillors/Members, directly responsible to the people.
For which :-
Constitution of LG Bodies
1. No other representatives except Councillors/Members elected from “Wards” to be included in constituting LG Bodies. Eg. If a MC/UC/PS has only 25 Wards, that LG body can have only 25 Councillors/Members, elected from the 25 Wards.
2. The voter has the right to elect 01 Member to his or her Ward.
3. Candidates should prove a minimum 10-year period of residence in the LG Body area, he or she is contesting – It should not be mere inclusion in the Householder’s list, but have proved residence.
LG Bodies with “Citizen Participation”
01. Duration of LG bodies should not exceed 04 years and the first meeting of the LG body should be convened by the LG Commissioner within 03 weeks from the date, results are officially announced.
02. All Members elected to a council, immediately after swearing in should as the first responsibility at the first meeting of the council presided by the Assistant LG Commissioner, name and elect a Mayor/Chairman and a Deputy Mayor/Deputy Chairman by a majority vote.
03. Within 04 weeks from the date of the first council meeting, the Mayor/Chairman should present the 04-year plan of the council along with expenditure and immediately publish it in public domain
04. After the council plan is published, it should be presented to a “referendum” of voters in the council area, held within 04 weeks. During these 04 weeks, if the voters wish to, they could propose amendments to the council plan, endorsed by 500 voters.
05. End of every second quarter of the year Council’s “performance report” for the 02 quarters should be presented to the council by the Mayor/Chairman and within 03 days should be published for public scrutiny.
06. Every LG Body should have its official web site to publish news, information and notices that should be updated regularly
If the main proposal to completely change the LG election process is accepted and also if there is any idea what is included here can be improved, do please convey your ideas and proposals to me.
