The successful holding of local Govt. elections in Batticaloa (eight Pradeshiya Sabhas and Batticaloa Municipal Council) on March 10 vindicates the decision of President Mahinda Rajapakse to hold free elections and restore democracy in the Eastern Province soon after its liberation from the yoke of terrorism.

A decade and a half have passed since people in the East voted at a local Govt. election. Less than a year after the LTTE was cleared from the area, less than two months after the abrogation of the Ceasefire Agreement, the government has thus made clear its commitment to a democratic political solution to the national problem. Despite doomsday predictions by pessimists, some with obnoxious hidden agendas, the election of new representatives totaling 101 to local councils marks a giant step in the direction of restoring participatory democracy to the East. - a region that was oppressed for nearly two decades by trigger happy authoritarian Tigers.

Fifty six percent of the people voted at the elections to nine local government bodies. Some localities had a 78 percent voter turnout. The People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), an independent election monitoring body that has functioned for a decade and more, declared that the election was conducted peacefully except for a few incidents reported in Vakarai. A strong police force of 6000 officials assigned for election duty took necessary precautions to ensure safety and smooth conduct of the polls.   

The election represents a huge victory for the State and enables people, both within and outside the Eastern Province, to breathe an enormous sigh of relief. It also evokes visions of good tidings i.e. free elections and representative democracy, that may benefit the Northern Province too in the not too distant future.

Ceasefire Agreements produce varied results in different countries

Many cease-fire and peace agreements in countries which are affected by armed conflict are initially unsuccessful and give way to renewed, and often escalated, violence.  For example, in Aceh, Indonesia, it took 30 years to arrive at a settlement after many agreements and attempts. In Liberia it took 14 years for the warring parties to meet for negotiations before reaching a settlement. In Mozambique the conflict lasted more than a decade and there were several failed attempts before the parties reached agreement. In Angola several attempts were made to end the conflict, during 30 year period of incessant violence, and the belligerent parties achieved positive results, after many failures, only in 2002.

In this respect if one looks at many conflicts which took place after World War II, each of them went through the different levels of the spectrum of conflict resolution and made it to the end only through lessons learnt from their past mistakes and that of others. Even after successful agreements, state building and peace building processes are often subject to outbreaks of violence, as recent experiences in Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, and East Timor illustrate.

The failure or success of a peace agreement differs from case to case due to a multiplicity of reasons. In Angola (1992) and Rwanda (1994), the casualties due to failed peace agreements were much higher than the casualties of war. The LTTE adopted the strategy of withdrawal from the talks in Geneva after arriving in Geneva for the second round of talks in 2006. The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) on the other hand whilst keeping  open the offer to negotiate a solution launched a military operation in the East based on humanitarian grounds when the LTTE closed the sluice gates of Mavil Aru and deprived life sustaining supply of water from the canals to 15,000 families and 30,000 acres of paddy land.  This was followed by large scale attacks in both the North and East, which had to be resisted forcefully if the state was not to be under continuous threat. Facing continuous acts of terrorism outside the conflict area, the Government of Sri Lanka decided to abrogate the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) on 2^nd of January 2008 acting under the provisions of Article 4.4 of the CFA, and it effectively came to an end on the 16^th January 2008.

The CFA agreement was not without its flaws, but it provided an opportunity for the people of Sri Lanka to experience both the benefits and detrimental effects of such an Agreement and thus avoid repenting later in not having experienced the outcome of such an Agreement. The violations committed by the LTTE were so gross in magnitude that not only were the Norwegians helpless to prevent such atrocities but the CFA also had no provisions to address such issues in terms of bringing the violators to justice and imposing sanctions.  Now that the CFA is not in force it is left to the people of the once highly affected Eastern Province to be vigilant and report abuse of human rights to the relevant authorities and ensure that justice is done to remedy the wrong.

Negenahira Navodaya ( Awakening of the East ) economic development programme

Following the liberation of the Eastern Province, a different approach was adopted by the Government to promote peace in the absence of a CFA or a Peace Agreement.  The Government began a rapid 180 day economic development programme under the Negenahira Navodaya ( Awakening of the East ) programme combining the efforts of both the central and local Government authorities. It proceeded further by holding elections to local government councils in electorates of eight Pradeshiya Sabhas and one Municipal Council, in the Batticaloa District on 10^th March 2008. 

In Vakarai, for example 12,419 (Koralaipattu North Pradeshiya Sabha) people were registered as voters to elect their representatives for the first time since 1991, after nearly 15 years of being the “human shield’ for the LTTE. They had no one to speak on their behalf or of their fate until the government liberated and started developing the area and democratizing the process of governance. Conducting elections and governing democratically constitute the most effective way to end the sufferings of the people that had continued for nearly three decades in this region. The democratic space that is created in turn would give the people the opportunity and the freedom to engage with others to develop their region.

This election is in other words a positive step taken by the government towards devolution, giving full powers of implementation in relevant areas to the newly elected authorities. During the period of campaigning the government strictly urged the parties contesting in the East to renounce violence and support free and fair elections. This was adhered to by independent groups and monitored by independent Organizations, such as PAFFREL. Furthermore the government is geared to call for nominations for election to the Provincial Council of the entire Eastern Province by the end of March and it is likely that the elections will be held in May 2008. The Northern and Eastern provinces were merged under the Provincial Councils Act in 1987 but were subsequently de-merged by an order of the Supreme Court in October 2006.

It must be noted that people of the Eastern Province voted at the Provincial Council elections held in 1988. However the Council then constituted was dissolved in 1990 following hostility to it by the LTTE, with the government at the time supporting the LTTE position in yet another vain attempt to promote peace through negotiation. The people in the East will therefore be exercising their constitutional rights to vote at a Provincial Council election after a lapse of 18 years.

Violence in Batticaloa reduced to a low level

The other note worthy observation is that the violence in Batticaloa has been reduced to a considerably low level since the abrogation of the CFA. After the Indo Lanka Agreement, all militant groups except for the LTTE, entered the democratic process, and three of these groups, the PLOTE, EPRLF and EPDP contested this election. All these, together with the LTTE, were dominated by a Northern leadership. Now, following the split in the LTTE, its former Eastern members have set up a political party, the TMVP, which also contested, and won 61 seats out of a total of 101 in the local councils. They are now in a position to realise their political goals through the democratic process rather than by resorting to the gun.

It has been argued by some critics that the restoration of democracy in the East, in order to be effective, will prove difficult since the newly elected members may not know how to conduct themselves in office. It was these people who claimed any election in the East  would be violent and bloody, hoping that their prophecy would be self-fulfilling with some voters fearing to participate.

Despite these forebodings, 56% of the people in Batticaloa had the courage to elect their representatives to local authorities, preferring the TMVP over other parties to take the leadership in all 8 Pradeshiya Sabhas and become the majority group in the Batticaloa Municipal Council, for which alone the TMVP contested under the banner of the UPFA. Miss S. Pathmini, who supported the break away Karuna group in December 2005 and then joined the TMVP and became the Secretary of the party, obtained the highest number of preferential votes at this election.  It should be noted that her father had been a martyr to LTTE violence when he contested a previous election. She has been elected as the new Mayor of Batticaloa and Pradeep Master (a Mayoral candidate) also from the TMVP is the new Deputy Mayor.

Role of other parties and training for Democracy

The EPDP in particular, who were former militants having laid down arms in 1987 and joined the democratic process following the Indo-Lankan Accord, contested in the recently concluded Elections as the Independent Group 1 together with the EPRLF and PLOTE as the other constituent elements of this Group. They will now have to work with the TMVP, their one time rivals in building peace, developing the region and maintaining democracy. The election in the East is a clear example of ethnic and political pluralism considering the composition of the elected members i.e. Tamil and Muslim parties, assuring a political stability in the region, and will thus experience a more relaxed atmosphere.

The TMVP leader himself like many of the ex-LTTE cadres exercised his franchise for the first time in life which should be commended and encouraged so that the vicious cycle of violence that the people have hitherto faced would not continue. Constant comparative studies are done, but it is important to note that Sri Lanka has taken a few positive steps toward democracy and conflict transformation in the absence of a CFA, which the international community too will recognize. What is most noteworthy here is  the very fact that the group which broke away from the LTTE has entered the democratic process through peaceful means. This transformation may be in the history of conflict resolution the fastest and accelerated process. The best thing that has happened to the people in Batticaloa is their ability to exercise their franchise after 18 years.

An important feature in the post election scenario is witnessing the collective responsibility of all elected members to work as a team and fulfill the aspirations of the people of all three communities, who have suffered due to the war for more than three decades at the hands of the world’s deadliest terrorist organization, the LTTE. The elimination of terrorism is a military and counter terrorism effort by the government. While the provincial and local authorities may not get directly involved in this effort, they can support such a policy by eradicating the root causes of terrorism i.e. poverty, discrimination, prejudices, inequality.

The TMVP has pledged that Batticaloa would have a brighter future and thus expects people to assist, engage and participate and encourages them to function as responsible public officers. At this time some Ministries have made arrangements to educate all elected members to build capacity with regard to constitutionalism, democracy, administrative procedures, financial regulations, local government legislation etc. whilst some I/NGOs committed to democracy and pluralism have shown their interest in developing skills on team work, leadership, communication, public relations etc. This will help with what is now particularly required in the East, a culture of pluralism and a participatory process in governance.