By

Dr Nirmala Chandrahasan

There is currently a lot of speculation as to whether the Tamil voter would exercise his/her franchise in the upcoming presidential elections in the context that neither Presidential candidate has addressed the political issues pertaining to them.

However it must be pointed out that the Tamil Voter is no different from any other citizen of the country and in common with members of the other communities they face the same economic problems, arising out of a high cost of living and lack of adequate livelihood /employment opportunities in the island.

The Tamil voter in common with the other communities in the island holds the same values and has the same democratic traditions. Hence they value good governance, the rule of law, a disciplined and uncorrupted police force, a judiciary which is impartial and whose integrity can be relied upon, a government which respects human rights, and in which the citizens right to information is given statutory recognition, an administration under which those accountable for public funds are punished for the waste, corruption and scams they may be responsible for, and political sycophants and unscrupulous businessmen are not given free rein to exploit the ordinary citizens of the country.

In this context I would think that the Tamil voter too will exercise his / her vote for the person / party which promises to deal with these and bring into being a truly democratic system of governance.

It should not be presumed that the Tamil voter is only concerned with matters concerning his political rights and is agitated or concerned only on questions such as whether or not 13A will be implemented with pluses or minuses.

Furthermore the Tamil voter is found not only in the north and east, there are also Tamil voters in the upcountry for whom decent housing, or provision of adequate educational facilities are important issues.

If either of the candidates comes forward to address these issues and promises to establish a just society in which human rights are given their due place and good governance prevails many of the other ethnic issues or problems specific to the north such as militarization or resettlement of persons in their original lands could be addressed under the new dispensation.

However for the time being there is no reason why the Tamil voter would not in common with all the other voters of the country exercise his /her vote as a concerned citizen of the country, and not in terms of ethnicity. We must keep in mind that Sri Lanka has the longest democratic traditions in Asia as we have had universal suffrage from 1931, and the exercise of the franchise is a cherished right.

Courtesy:The Island