Promoting a Democratic Election

An education and awareness campaign to discourage political violence and mobilise communities to vote for peace during the Sri Lankan elections.

Description

The programme was run prior to the November 2005 Presidential election, starting in September and ending in the month of November. It included an awareness program on people’s right to a democratic election free from fraud and election violence with the voting public of all ethnicities as the target group.

The support and commitment of political parties to a free and fair election and finding a non-violent solution based on discussions for the ethnic conflict was sought from the provincial political leaders as a component of the initiative.

Aims / Objectives

It aimed to promote awareness of people’s right to a democratic, peaceful election and to gain an understanding of the public stand towards a possible solution to the ethnic conflict. Further it aimed to motivate people to consider the candidates' avowed principles on solving the ethnic conflict when voting.

The elected president has the power to decide the future of the conflict or to form the opinions of people as he or she wishes. Therefore at this crucial stage of the cease fire, it is important that people give prominence to the policies presented by each individual regarding the ethnic conflict in selecting their candidate, and that their choice is accurately reflected in election results devoid of fraud.

How it is Articulated

Using the statistics provided by the People's Action for a Free and Fair Election and the Centre for Policy Analysis, we selected 10 locations where election violence was most prominent to be addressed through the initiative.

The people were initially informed by posters and announcements of their right to a democratic election where their preference towards a solution to the ethnic conflict is reflected in their chosen candidate. Consequently 50 people in key positions of the community such as religious leaders, people from the media, community leaders, and political leaders were chosen from the 10 selected areas to take part in two day residential seminars in each area which discussed these issues in detail.

The initiative obtained letters from the major political parties expressing their commitment to a democratic election and a non-violent solution to the ethnic conflict sought through discussions, except from one party who refused to commit to finding a solution thorough discussion to the ethnic conflict, since they believed that such an effort might lead to the creation of separate countries.

Achievements / Learning Points

We conducted our programs in the areas in which election violence was most prominent during previous elections. The election violence recorded from these areas after the initiative was considerably reduced.

Through the discussions with the people and through checking their opinions we discovered that almost all the people at grassroots level prefer a solution to the conflict within one state, reached through discussions, which were open to all community members. Further they perceived the violent election culture in the country as a result of the protracted war and militarization of the state.

The initiative would have been even more beneficial if it could have been done in every area of the country with the assistance of national level print and electronic media and other strategies like street drama and creative arts.

Geographical Area of Operation

10 areas of the country selected from Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Anamaduwa, Halawata, Weerawela and Galnewa

Funding Resources

Flict

Organisations Involved

Community based organisations in the selected districts

Stories

In conducting the initiative, we received criticism from some politicians and from one political party in particular because we stood up for a negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict in the face of serious violations of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the government and LTTE. However, we found most  people disagreed with these politicians and preferred to find a non-violent solution to the ethnic conflict through discussion; this strengthened us in our mission.