Shadows and irregularities cloud Sri Lanka’s "free elections"

Since early morning there have been accidents and incidents of violence in different parts of the island. Shootings, damage to houses, vehicles and private property, illegal demonstrations in front of polling stations, text messages of propaganda disseminated by the parties.  These are just some of the many episodes to counter the electoral challenge to the renewal of Parliament, dissolved by Mahinda Rajapaksa after his victory in the presidential election.  

In an effort to influence the vote, the state television channel ITN aired a program in which astrologers predicted the victory of the ruling party. Also last night, state television released pictures of President Rajapaksa and his brother Shomali - also among the candidates - while attending a Buddhist ceremony.

AsiaNews has sought the opinions of leading figures in the secular and Catholic world who unanimously raise serious doubts about the correctness of the vote.  

Fr. Reid Shelton Fernando, priest and political analyst, speaks of  a"media all lined up on one side" and "truth sacrificed" for the benefit of the state. "The goal of the ruling party - the religious claims - is to win two-thirds of the seats. If they succeed in this goal [and have the numbers to change the Constitution], this will have a tragic effect on the future of the nation.

For Geetha Lakmini, director of an NGO, you can not expect "free and fair elections" when in fact it is a fight between members of a single party. " "These people and their supporters - he added - are armed and you do not know if they belong to the regular police. However, she excludes the possibility of the ruling party winning a two-thirds majority.  

Herman Kumara, secretary general of the World Forum for Fisher People (WFFP), points to the pre-election period to emphasize that "there was no fair and free climate for all candidates”. He adds that there is not even open access to media, not even within the ruling party. "A handful of men close to President - he explains - have grabbed all the possible spaces and, secondly," the opposition parties were unable to carry out a free election campaign. " How is it possible, asks the President of the National Fisheries Solidarity, to have "peaceful" elections if "the candidates of one party are fighting against each other" to get the favours of the president. He predicts the obvious victory of the ruling party, but with a minimum margin and less than two thirds determined by the executive.

A woman at the head of a private company in Colombo, who requested anonymity, fears that the election will lead to dictatorship "because the violations of laws" are visible in every sphere. "People are forced to put up with lies or half truths”, she adds, and " the presence of a strong opposition is more necessary than ever."  

Mgr. Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of the capital also spoke of the elections, in a press release issued on April 6 last. The prelate stressed that "it is the responsibility of all citizens to exercise their right to vote” to influence the destiny of the nation "in the best possible way”.   Archbishop Ranjith recalled that it is the duty of Catholics to collaborate so the elections are "free and without incident" and he appealed for calm in the period between the end of the voting and the announcement of results.  

The Archbishop of Colombo called for "transparency" in exercising the functions of parliament and "respect for diversity", whether of gender, ethnicity, age or religion. " The prelate emphasizes once more the value of "multiculturalism" that characterizes the society of Sri Lanka and urges that "there is no discrimination of any kind." "Free, peaceful and just elections” – he concluded.