The results of the Eastern Provincial Council election may already be pouring in at the time this newspaper gets into the hands of our readers. If all has gone well at the polls and if it has been largely peaceful, we could heave a deep sigh of relief and take comfort in the fact that the democratic process is indeed being sustained in the East after more than two decades. All parties to the electoral process, including the state, could then be congratulated on a job well done.

At the time this commentary is being written, there is no cause for exceptional concern over the Eastern electioneering as the process has proved to be trouble-free in the main, although polls monitors have had occasion to report a few instances of polls violence and other election irregularities. However, major malpractices have not been reported and we hope it will remain that way. Even if irregularities of greater magnitude have occurred and if any party has reason to be dissatisfied with the polls outcome, we call on such quarters to be calm in the interest of the greater good of the country. Resorting to unlawful acts, such as the unleashing of violence to settle grievances, would only bode ill for Sri Lanka and compound her current travails. Needless to say, the latter situation would leave all Sri Lankans losers. Therefore we reiterate: patience and calm are our urgent needs. Resorting to the legal process, is the best option for those with grievances over the polls outcome.

At this moment we are also obliged to call on the state to enforce the Rule of Law all over the land, besides the East. To the degree to which it is able to do this, the authorities would command credibility and their writ will hold in the country. To the degree to which it fails to do this, law and order problems would mount because distrust of the state is a sure recipe for lawlessness and anarchy.

This has been a hard fought election. Consequently, it should not come as a surprise if a considerable quantum of bad blood has flown among the contestants. For every major contestant, the stakes have been high and a favourable polls outcome has been keenly coveted by each of them. This being the case, the observer would not be exaggerating if he sees political tensions in the East as potentially explosive.

There is the UPFA, for example, which has staked a good part of its future on a major polls triumph. If it performs notably along with the TMVP, it could substantiate its claim of having brought political normalcy to the East, and laid the basis for an Eastern rejuvenation or a ‘Negenahira Udawe’, a key state project. Restoring democracy in the East, close on the heels of militarily routing the LTTE in the province, was a mission which was close to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s heart and a UPFA-TMVP victory would make good his boast of neutralizing terror in regions where the diktat of the state should be writ large.

An Eastern win for the UPFA-led alliance gains added significance on account of the President’s pledge that he would make democracy reign in all parts of the North too, once the political process is established in the East. The fulfillment of such plans is pivotal to the political survival of the President because defeating LTTE terror completely has assumed the proportions of the President’s pet undertaking to the country. His political future would be seriously jeopardized in the event of these plans going awry.

The stakes are equally high for the UNP-SLMC combine- the other important contender in the East. A remarkable showing by them would not only prove that they are a force to contend with and seriously disrupt UPFA calculations in the region, but provide the momentum and push for them to make a renewed effort at coming to power at the centre, after having compelled the government to go for a general election. The polls outcome would also have close bearing on UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political standing and future although he has displayed the knack of surviving varied political reverses in the past.

So, if we have had a grim tussle so far among these key parties for electoral gains we should not be surprised, for the stakes are high and alluring. However, playing clean and straight is the ideal and Sri Lanka’s democratic credentials would be preserved and perpetuated to the degree to which this ideal is striven for by all. It is for these reasons that we, as protectors of the public good, view with serious concern electoral malpractices and irregularities along with attempts at undermining democratic norms and values, from wherever they may emanate.

For instance, while it is true that perceived or real underhand, undemocratic manoeuvres of ruling parties are always grist to the mill of the Opposition, their concern and puzzlement over the recent sudden prorogation of Parliament by the President, we believe, is not without substance. Given that transparency is a vital aspect of democratic governance, parliamentary business should have been allowed to proceed with the government remaining open to opposition scrutiny and questioning on the issues of the day. The dramatic prorogation, however, provided substance to the Opposition belief that an effort by the government was underway to throw a smokescreen over its conduct in the East in the run-up to the poll. Opposition allegations on this score may be without foundation, but by precipitately avoiding Opposition scrutiny, we believe the government has projected itself in a bad light.