Political bargaining

Friday, 28 September 2012 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

THE events that unfolded with the swearing-in of a new Chief Minister to the North Central Province has brought into sharper focus the practice of collective bargaining in Sri Lanka, with the added dimension of family bartering.

Since 2005, as the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has entrenched its dominance over the United National Party (UNP) at elections, intra-party clashes within the UPFA have increased – as contenders bid to secure the most number of preferential votes. The keenest contest in the North Central Province (NCP) was between the incumbent Chief Minister Bertie Premalal Dissanayake, who secured 95,027 votes, and lost narrowly to S.M. Ranjith, who secured 105,232.

The press publicised pronouncements on both parties staking claim to the position of Chief Minister. The nature of the claims and bargains made provide an insight into normalised practices and values. The threat of provincial politicians pledging their featly to Dissanayake and threatening to resign as well as the actual resignation letter issued by MP Malini Fonseka has taken up much space in the national media.

Verite research, a media think tank, in its observations noted that there were a couple of interesting developments to be gained from this Chief Minister bargaining saga. First, neither the press nor any of the actors seemed to believe that the democratic yardstick (gaining the highest preference votes) was adequate to determine the matter. The decision lay with the President, as the Leader of the UPFA. The organisation pointed out that Dissanayake bargained primarily on his deemed ability to sway the loyalty of other provincial councillors while Ranjith’s bargain was made by his brother, S.M. Chandrasena, a Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister in the UPFA.

Second, the press highlighted without criticism, a new ‘family-limit’ rule introduced by the President post-elections: that members of the same family could not concurrently hold a Cabinet as well as a Chief Minister position. According to reports, several others including Cabinet Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and her husband Kanchana Jayaratne (who polled the highest preferential votes in Ratnapura) were also confronted with the same arbitrary limitation. The lack of criticism reflects the cultural common-sense of bidding and bargaining as families, rather than as individuals.

Verite goes on to remark that Chandrasena’s resignation secured the Chief Minister position for his brother Ranjith: bargaining away power in the centre for more in the province – the opposite of what the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) did in the Eastern Province. Perhaps then, devolved power is not as secondary as the SLMC has made it seem.

During the swearing-in ceremony, President Rajapaksa had insisted that this was the last time that CM posts would be handed out on preferential votes since a new election system would soon be passed by Parliament. Yet, one thing remains the same: CM posts remain meaningless unless they are used for the competitive development of provinces. Provincial politicians also need to remember that they must adhere to the will of the people rather than pledging allegiance to one politician.

This behind-the-scenes bargaining should not undermine the democratic process of electing leaders by the people’s will.