Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has ordered the removal of election propaganda material displayed in unauthorised locations and the police have got the money for the job––Rs. 12.8 mn. But, day in and day out, we see, in public places, an ever increasing number of election posters, cutouts etc. belonging to the two main contestants in the presidential race. They seem to think that the number of votes they get will be proportionate to the number of posters they put up. Their lackeys, too, erect monstrous cutouts to curry favour with them.

The fact that the police have had to hire labourers with funds provided by the Elections Secretariat to remove posters and cutouts is a pointer to the failure of the Provincial Councils and the local government institutions to carry out their duties.

Never mind election laws. Local government bodies are responsible for keeping areas under them clean and free from unauthorised propaganda material. It is common knowledge that not even a banner promoting an ordinary commodity like soap could be displayed in a public place without permission from the local government institution concerned. So, how come politicians and bureaucrats at the helm of those institutions ignore election posters and cutouts, which, in some cases, are even taller than huge trees in the background, letting the police take care of them? They do not deserve the salaries they are given!

Today, we quote Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils Janaka Bandara Tennakoon as having said that Provincial Councils have the powers to remove election propaganda material on their own.

So, why on earth should the Elections Commissioner and the Police be made to overtax themselves? Chief Ministers and Local Government politicians must be asked to do their job! Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

If Provincial Councils do their duty by keeping the environment clean, money that the Elections Secretariat spends on removing propaganda material could be saved and put to a much better use. Newspapers are full of heart-rending appeals for public assistance for life saving operations, vital drugs etc. With Rs. 12.8 mn, at least fifty lives could have been saved. Or, with that money, some houses could have been built for the poor or the war displaced.

A popular misconception is that what ails this country is lack of laws. Hence repeated calls from some quarters for more and more new laws and even Constitutional amendments. But, the real problem, we believe, is the non-implementation of the existing laws.

We duplicated the State administration by creating Provincial Councils at a huge cost. But, today, we have had to expend millions of rupees to get something simple done, like removing election posters!

Of what use are the PCs and the LG bodies? Their failure is the responsibility of the government which controls all PCs and a vast majority of MCs, UCs and Pradeshiya Sabhas.