May the best man win

The twists, turns and drama of this presidential election are riveting, and there is no doubt about that. The theatre on the political stage has many even rather apolitical citizens engrossed. But while the drama unfolds, there has been a silent incremental revolution.
The Elections Commissioner has been becoming gradually more alert to the flagrant rigging of the system that was in evidence since the campaign began. It may be too little and too late, but the elections commissioner’s palpable turnaround is perhaps symptomatic of the stratospheric changes in the political atmosphere that have been witnessed since the 2010 campaign began.
There are no written guarantees anymore about the outcome of this election and therefore from civil servant to private entrepreneur, all interested parties seem to be moving to the middle ground if they are not already openly committed and allied to any particular candidate, that is.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that be it in the armed forces or the police, the general outlook now among the rank and the file is to be cautious and neutral —- because there are no guarantees of any one candidate winning this contest.
This is a sea change from the lesser elections held in the past few months, and if any reiteration is needed, this clears any doubt that people vote differently at different polls.
All of this does not mean that there would be no attempts at election rigging, but officials are getting to be more assertive, and a case in point was the elections department official who walked from the head table, when a minister thought it fit to be seated there when department officials gave a briefing to police etc., in the southern province.
All of this shows that even under great stress, that democracy has its own dynamic.
Even the most powerful and the jaded, act under instincts of self preservation, and self-preservation demands at elections such as these that public officials remain neutral unless they are willing to pay a price by backing one candidate and risking recriminations if the other wins.
Realizing accountability via the instinct of self-preservation may not be the best way to keep democracy alive, but in the absence of a political culture that encourages above board practice, any means of enforcing democracy is positive.
It is also positive to see politicians themselves making their choices to back candidates freely and not at the point of a gun, which brings us to the most sanguine aspect of this election - - - which is that Prabhakaran’s shadow is not casting a deathly pall over it.
This is the first election in decades where the Tamil people are free to vote according to their conscience. Indeed, the last few important national elections in this country may have been decided by Prabhakaran, and this one certainly would not be.
Therefore, sans that inimical force, and with the new dynamic of self-preservation manifesting itself among public servants and forces personnel etc., this presidential election could be a watershed expression of free franchise, the kind we have not seen in this country for years.
There is still however the chance that the potentially peaceful atmosphere of this election, could be disturbed by determined saboteurs and election riggers.
There is no doubt that intimidation and malpractice goes on in the campaign arena even as we write, but by and large the campaign has been far more peaceful than most people predicted or imagined.
It may be that these words are being spoken too soon because there are still three weeks to go before the votes are cast and counted.
But yet, the general contours seem to be clear unless there is unexpected intervening calamity.
A balance of forces in terms of people’s support for the two major forces pitted against each other in this election seems to have ensured a certain eerie equilibrium in this 2010 campaign — a surprising calm, if you will.
This is probably why the share market is on a roll, and despite all negative predictions, has been the best performing stock exchange despite ongoing elections, a remarkable feat for a country just coming out of a war.
It seems safe to say therefore that whatever the outcome of this election, there can only be a bright future for this country. The only barrier between such a hopeful future and the mass of our people seems to be a bunch of unpredictable often incorrigible politicians.
But even the most powerful at these elections would have by now realized that the game is bigger than the players, and that the best laid plans of mice and men go awry in Sri Lanka’s unpredictable self-correcting device that is our very resilient national political arena.
Under these circumstances, may the best man win.