Time for both Govt. and Opp. to look beyond LG polls

The Local Government elections may be long over but dramas are unfolding on a daily basis at different councils as the Government and the Opposition lock horns to gain control of them. While the NPP has managed to take control of 200 local authorities, there are ongoing disputes in cases where joint opposition groups have more seats than the ruling party or in some instances where the number of seats is tied.  

In several of the local authorities, the elections to elect a mayor or Chairman have turned into battlefields with heated exchange leading to the process being stopped halfway. In some bodies the elections have been postponed indefinitely amidst the melee.

Sadly, all this is happening under a Government that promised system change but what the public is witnessing at the local government level could be a snapshot of what would happen at the provincial council level too after elections slated for next year.

Hitherto Local Government elections have been held, and the bodies have been constituted without any of the drama that is taking place this year. The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) became a major power play between the NPP and the SJB and for the Government, it was a victory they wanted, by hook or by crook, and they got it, though the process left a bad taste in the mouth. The NPP is proving that it will make deals with the devil if it benefits them, as can be seen in places where it has joined hands with the SLPP as well as other opposition parties so as to take control of councils. It’s not system change but more of the horse trading that is all too common in Sri Lankan politics.

That said, the main Opposition SJB isn’t doing itself any favour by getting into self-destructive alliances just to secure control over some local authorities. The local bodies are there to work for the people of their locality and this should be done disregarding political affiliation. People pay rates to their local authority and don’t care who runs council as long as their garbage is collected on time, the roads that come under the local body are maintained, that the streetlights are working and other such issues.

But it does not mean people will look at who runs the local body and decide who to vote for at a national election because the issues before them at the national level are vastly different than those at the local level. This is what the Opposition has failed to grasp, spending too much of its time and energy focused on this issue. For the Government it’s more an ego trip trying to take control of as many bodies as possible while it comes to terms with the loss of support for it within a few months of taking power. All the boast of a clean sweep at the polls proved wrong and hence those in the NPP are seeking to console themselves by using whatever methods necessary to gain control.

All this while the people are facing more serious issues. The unfolding situation in the Middle East is worrying for Sri Lanka given that the lifelines of its economy are tied to the stability in the region, be it foreign remittances of thousands of Lankan workers employed in the region, the massive tea market in the area and a potential fallout that could hit the country’s tourism industry.

In addition to that, the recent electricity price hike has pushed up the cost of living further, there are medicine shortages in hospitals and the public are also facing public health issues including mosquito borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, all of which the Government is yet to address with the seriousness they deserve. For both the Government and the Opposition, it’s best to concentrate on addressing the bigger issues the people face and keep politics to election time.