Making LGs matter

As the Local Government Election race gets set to begin in earnest there is renewed need for them to prove that they are worthy of public trust. According to the latest gazette notification, which was signed by Local Government and Provincial Council Minister Faiszer Musthapha on Wednesday, the number of representatives for local governments has doubled, resulting in 8,356 officials being elected when the vote is completed. 

The silver lining in this number is that since a 25% quota has been given for women nominations, theoretically, the vote should see a larger number of women selected to office. Given that Sri Lanka has less than 5% representation across all levels of governance with provincial and local governments faring worse than their national counterparts, the increase in representation will be welcome. 

Even though women make up as much as 52% of the population the minimal representation they are given has led to massive gaps in policymaking, which often overlook gender-related issues. Hopefully some of these oversights will be lessened once more women are elected to local governments, allowing the trend to move up the governance chain to Parliament and perhaps even the Cabinet. 

The amount of additional public funds that would be needed to support the extra officials as well as the overall 8,356 have not been announced but it is likely to be extensive. Politicians usually get lower salaries but have access to many perks including lucrative foreign trips, which are rarely fully accounted for. 

Even at the Parliament level there is no comprehensive mechanism to evaluate how much public money is spent on parliamentarians, ministers and Cabinet ministers. As the Government moves to improve public finance accountability, understanding how increased taxes are spent will also raise public confidence and this is an area that requires additional attention as well. Public bodies have to be productive too. 

Once nominations are called and campaigning begins in earnest, the loyalists of different political parties are expected to hotly contest the local government elections. The Joint Opposition in particular is likely to ramp up its rhetoric after spending over a year demanding elections from the Government. JO members, as they are known, will also be keen to underscore their loud political presence by proving that they have grassroots support but will be facing a battle since pragmatic voters have traditionally voted for whichever party holds Government. 

Both the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will work to consolidate their positions and avert the loss of face from underperforming at the local government elections. Even though the poll will not have an impact at the national level, both parties are conscious of needing to re-establish their popularity in the eyes of the public. 

Given that both parties will contest separately they will have to define achievements to put before the public, which may result in both parties trying to claim the same ground for themselves.  It will be up to the voter to decide which side has walked the talk. 

Elections come and go but the nationalistic rhetoric that politicians unleash during their campaigning can linger for long after. Therefore all candidates have a responsibility to ensure that they do no harm and allow Sri Lanka to continue its journey towards peace and reconciliation even after the polls.