Empowering the police
It is with some consternation that readers would have received the news yesterday that among a large haul of unauthorised firearms seized by the Special Investigation Unit of the Chilaw Police, were several such weapons, which were distributed among some persons by sections of the police themselves.

According to the report, these arms were handed over to these persons at the behest of political big wigs during the tenure of the previous administration.

This development alone shows the continuing vulnerability of the law enforcement authorities to political interference and pressure. Needless to say, one of the best guarantees against such dangerous meddling is the independence of the law enforcers. It is this independence and strength, which is promised by the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, which is, unfortunately, proving to be stillborn at the moment. An Independent Police Commission, coupled with Independent Election and Public Service Commissions would have rendered the current controversies relating to the degree of freedom and fairness in the conduct of polls, unnecessary.

Nevertheless, we are happy to note that the Prime Minister has taken the important step of holding some categories of senior police officers accountable for any election-linked violence and irregularities. This would put the onus on these officers to ensure a clean local government poll or face disciplinary action.

Joining Premier Wickremesinghe in this call for a duty-conscious and efficient police force was Interior Minister John Amaratunga, who was quoted as calling for a strong and well-disciplined Police Department, at a recent function.

These sentiments are bound to be echoed by the majority of well-meaning persons in this country. The foundation of a stable society is, indeed, a disciplined and efficient police force, which could prove sturdily independent at all, times. A duty is cast on the rulers of the land to ensure that law enforcement agencies measure-up to these standards.

It is a matter beyond dispute that the police should be sufficiently empowered to do their duties effectively. The establishment of safeguards to protect the police against political interference and pressure, cannot be indefinitely stalled. Such procrastination would only ensure an enfeebled society.

Let's not forget the lessons of history. Political meddling with the police in the past, contributed amply towards the weakening of democratic institutions in the country.

Irregular senior appointments in the force, for instance, ensured that the police acted in a partisan manner at times of crisis. Thus began public disenchantment with law enforcers and their loss of independence. It is time to reverse these destructive trends. Decision-makers need to put the country above partisan, political interests.  

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EDITORIAL, THE ISLAND

Giving Peace a Chance
The buzzword for quite sometime now has been, Peace. People are talking of peace, enjoying it and hoping it would last - even the sceptics who have doubts about its durability. The greatest achievement has been that since the ceasefire declared by the LTTE was accepted by the newly elected UNF government of Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe on Christmas Day, there has been no killing in what came to be known as the Killing Fields of South Asia.

The economy is stabilising itself, markets are beginning to pick up and tourists have begun trickling in. Businessmen are rubbing their palms. The citizens of the north and east are greatly relieved and in Colombo the barricades on the streets have disappeared. Of course, most of these developments had occurred before - twice during the peace talks initiated by Presidents Premadasa and Kumaratunga. Analysts say that unlike before, there is hope this time of a lasting peace - the Warlord of the Wanni not being able to exploit the peace interregnum and unleash terror at the opportune moment as before There is no sympathy for terrorism of his kind anymore in those lands he was once treated with indulgence and from where his guns, bombs and finance came.

Every sane person desires peace. Only megalomaniacs such as Adolf Hitler will say ‘Mankind grows strong by war and perishes with eternal peace.’ But in this country there are self- appointed peace lobbies blessed with largesse from abroad who claim a monopoly on peace and dub those opposed to their way of thinking as warmongers.

Since the ceasefire was declared and the Ceasefire Agreement signed, leading professionals who, too, are committed to peace have disagreed with the contents of the agreement and others have objected to the flagrant violation of the agreement by the LTTE. The allegations have been that of smuggling of arms, conscription of children to build up their cadres and extortion from civilians. Amnesty International as well as the American government had made the same allegations against the LTTE, which have been denied by LTTE leaders.

Pointing out these flagrant violations of the agreement and the call for the LTTE to observe the terms of the Ceasefire Agreement have not been welcomed in certain quarters. The reflex action is to call those critics of the agreement and commentators who point out to the violations of it as being against peace, promoters of war and anti- UNF! ‘Give peace a chance,’ they say.

Whether this is a way to ‘Give Peace a Chance’ or wreck the Ceasefire Agreement, we leave it to the readers to decide. For the Ceasefire Agreement to work and to strengthen the peace process, both sides must be made to abide by the agreement not only to the very letter, but also in the spirit of peacemakers. Presidents Premadasa and Kumaratunga, too, looked on benignly at the belligerence of the LTTE while the peace negotiations were going on. What followed is history, now. To make the Ceasefire Agreement work, the LTTE must be held responsible to observe the provisions to the very letter of the agreement and in the spirit of peacemakers.

The LTTE is now holding mass rallies called Pongu Tamil in the big towns of the north and east. This is interpreted as the politicisation of the LTTE and it joining the mainstream of politics. Certainly if the LTTE is indeed joining the mainstream of politics and has forsaken terrorism, it is a considerable achievement of the policies of Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe. However, there are accusations that fascist strategies are being deployed with business and government establishments forced to put up shutters and school children compelled to attend the rallies.

The ‘Give Peace a Chance’ lobby argues that this coercive aspect should be overlooked because the terrorist group is in a state of transition from terrorism to democracy and that it is a better alternative than cold-blooded murder. The protesting victims, however, are not as appreciative as the writer of a letter from Trincomalee, which we publish on the opposite page today.

The ceasefire as mentioned earlier has brought about welcome changes and is being hailed by world leaders. But violations of its provisions can undermine it and ultimately scuttle it. Much would depend on the ceasefire monitors who have come in rather late. It is essential that the public should have free access to them, especially those of the north and east and the Wanni. So far, there has been no public notification of how these ceasefire monitors could be reached by the public.

The LTTE is still dreaded by all people living in those areas and reaching the monitors entail risking their lives. If there is no mechanism to reach these monitors on a confidential basis, then the monitors will indeed end up giving good reports on very bad boys in the class. 

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EDITORIAL, DAILY  MIRROR

Party rivalry in local politics
Whatever the final outcome of yesterday's local government elections would be, the general public could draw some satisfaction from the comparatively low incidence of violence that characterised the run-up to the polls this time. Different persons adduce different reasons for this achievement.

Among the reasons given are; the general apathy of the electorate arising from the politicians' failure to live up to the expectations of the people, the commitment and effort made by the UNF government to eliminate polls violence, the cooperation extended by leaderships of opposition parties. The PA activists' lack of enthusiasm caused by the arrest of some of their leaders and disunity within the ranks of the party, the disappearance from the political scene of some of the criminal and unruly elements as a result of their arrest for alleged crime and corruption at the last election, the enhanced power that the Election Commissioner was allowed to wield under the 17th Amendment to the constitution, and the power and freedom given to the police to act independently, impartially and effectively.

Although these reasons given competitively by persons and groups depending on their political party loyalties and prejudices, it would appear more logical to conclude that all the above factors have contributed in varying degrees, to produce the desired effect of low rate of violence. It is, however, foolish and futile to be complacent about the present situation. No less a person than the head of state complains of continuing harassment and intimidation of her party supporters. It is unfair to dismiss these allegations as those without foundation, as some sections of the ruling party attempt to do. There could well be some exaggerations about incidents in the reports sent to the President by her party activists, but the occurrence of such violence cannot be ruled out.

The authorities, therefore, are duty-bound to take appropriate action regarding these complaints especially in view of a possible spell of post-election violence this time too. It is indeed not surprising that early reports from around the country yesterday indicated an escalation of violent incidents as voting got under way. What these incidents indicate is the arduous nature of task of checking violence. It is hard for those who have got accustomed to criminalizing politics to desist from such activity.

The public indifference that was perceptible at this election is understandable. Having participated in a series of national elections coming one after the other, the people expected these elections to the local bodies to be different and meaningful to finding solutions to their parochial problems which remained neglected while political parties and politicians grappled with larger national problems and issues. The changes they expected in the system of elections to the local bodies did not materialise. The amendment to the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance introduced by the government at the last minute, though useful, did not bring about the expected changes. This amendment did, of course, fill a lacuna that existed in the law by providing for filing of election petitions at local level.

The Commission of Inquiry into Local Government Reforms, in fact, recommended the abolition of the party system in local government elections and the adoption of the ward system that was in vogue in the past. This vital recommendation and many others made for improving the credibility and effectiveness of local bodies have thus gone by the board. True, these elections were long delayed and democracy demanded the holding of elections at the earliest opportunity. But another few months delay would not have been opposed by anyone if an attempt had been made to produce a new system of elections accommodating the commission's recommendations. The voters now have to await the expiry of the new term of local bodies for the new system to be adopted.

Until then the people will have to live with the gimmicks and antics of party politics even in matters affecting their immediate environment. Where cooperation and unity are needed to solve parochial problems, what the people will have, would be local bodies divided on party lines and continuing their political rivalries. These rivalries obviously obstruct the development areas under various local authorities.

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EDITORIAL REVIEWS

EDITORIAL, LANKADEEPA (Sinhala Daily)

When will terrorism be eliminated?
Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Pakistan Sri Lal Weerasooriya, his wife and daughter were reportedly wounded in a bomb attack in a Christian Church in Islamabad.

We denounce this inhuman attack most vehemently.  Five were killed and 41 wounded in it.  This dastardly killing was a violation of the basic human right of professing a faith of one's choice.  There is hardly any difference between these bloodthirsty inhuman terrorists and the primitive uncivilized men who engaged in tribal killings purely for self-preservation.  Currently, there is a strong world opinion polarising against terrorism.  In this regard, it could well be expected that the day when the menacing social malady of terrorism will be wiped out from the world.

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EDITORIAL, DIVAINA (Sinhala Daily)

Keep the light of civilization aglow
At a time when the UN was more powerful than at present, its affiliate body, the UNESCO made a significant contribution to the education of third world countries.  The flame of civilization was lit by education.  Through the sharpening and refining of human intellect, wisdom and thought, education brightened this light of civilization. Sri Lanka, which rated highest in literacy rating at one time, suffered such a decline in school education as to cause students not to know Martin Wickremasinghe as a writer and mistake Prof. Cyril Ponnamperuma to be a film star.

In this regard, appointing of unsuitable persons for positions in the education sector is a grave mistake, which could be disastrous to the education of our children.  Minister Dr. Karunasena Kodithuwakku's accepting of the mistakes of the education system is commendable.

We trust the education sector will thrive and benefit in the future from suitable persons being appointed to its responsible posts.

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EDITORIAL, DINAMINA (Sinhala Daily)

Importance of averting post-poll violence
The Local Government election has been concluded.  Results are being announced.  It can generally be termed as a peaceful, free and fair election compared to past elections.

The Police and Elections Department had jointly taken measures to ensure a free and fair election.  The reduction of polls violence is a certain victory for the democratic process in Sri Lanka.  It is essential to
consolidate this situation and continue it in forthcoming polls for the North-East and rest of 18 local bodies.

We, a country with a multi-racial, multi-party democracy boasting of a high literacy rate and political maturity should not permit a few undesirable groups to create violence during elections.  Intra-party clashes in the hot pursuit for preferential votes were a significant feature of this election. Preserving the general peace experienced during this election the victors should abstain from harassing the vanquished.

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EDITORIAL, LAKBIMA (Sinhala Daily)

To the victorious people's representatives
The great enthusiasm evinced by our politicians, to save our people was aptly demonstrated by the large number of candidates in the just concluded Local Government elections.  Nearly 26,000 contested for 4,374 positions at this election.

All candidates showed an extraordinary and inordinate interest in the improvement of public amenities.  We hope those who won at this election will continue to show the same interest in public affairs and services as they showed during the campaign. Roads, culverts, drains, water supply and garbage disposal are in a pathetic and deplorable state in many urban and rural areas.  We think the elected representatives will get down to work to improve these conditions.

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EDITORIAL VIRAKESARI (Tamil Daily) 

A peaceful election
Yesterday's election was peaceful. More than 50 per cent of the 7.5 million voters eligible to vote at that election had voted by noon. In a democratic country, the voting right is an inalienable right. Voters had exercised that right with much enthusiasm yesterday. It augurs well for democracy. It was also a surprise that serious election violence was avoided.

Winning and losing are natural in an election, as in any competition. Both should be accepted with grace. It is also an onerous duty reposed on the people to help maintain law and order and it is the need of the hour.

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EDITORIAL THINAKARAN (Tamil Daily) 

New councils should be active
Local Government elections are over, and a new set of members has been elected. Although a free and fair election was demanded, the elections were not without violence including killings. The CMEV, a monitoring agency, has confirmed that there was polls violence, but compared to previous elections, the violence was much less.

It is the responsibility of the new members to work incessantly for the betterment of the lot of the people. There is much work to be done at the grass root level and, if these Councils were not active, the people who elected them would not be served well.

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EDITORIAL THINAKKURAL (Tamil Daily) 

President made helpless
President Chandrika Kumaratunga was very active in campaigning at the just concluded Local Government election.  Comparatively, government leaders did not engage themselves very actively. The JVP was very vociferous about the Ceasefire Agreement.  In the Tamil areas, massive Tamil Awakening Festivals were held and people showed their support to Tiger Leader V. Prabhakaran.  Communal forces in the South were trying to make out that this was a clear indication of Tamil Eelam being formed.  The people showed very clearly through yesterday's election that they are not going to be misled by such communal cries.

The President's active participation in the election campaign can be seen as her attempt to salvage her powers.  The President's campaign was a confused one. While showing her support for the peace initiatives, she had expressed her opposition to the Ceasefire Agreement.  Her insistence on calling out the armed forces for election duty has not been justified by the situation on election day.  The President, who maintains that three fourths of State power is still in her hands, has been reduced to a helpless position now.  It remains to be seen how she and the PA would react to future peace initiatives.

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