Former President Bharrat Jagdeo’s report for the Commonwealth on Thursday’s Sri Lankan general elections cited widespread state media bias in favour of the government and the abuse of state resources, the exact criticisms which had been levelled here during the 2011 polls when he was the outgoing President.
Jagdeo’s 12-year administration had long been accused of vulgar abuse of the state media and state resources on behalf of the ruling PPP/C and to burnish its chances particularly during election campaigning. Observers had suggested that Jagdeo was an inappropriate choice for the 2015 Sri Lankan mission since he was likely to have to pass judgment on some of the same things he and the state media he controlled as minister of information had been accused of.
The editorial in the January 5th, 2015 edition of Stabroek News had stated: “Mr Jagdeo’s signature on the final report for the Sri Lanka elections will create a disjunction between its contents and his own poor governance of this country over the 12 years that he presided as President.”
In his interim statement on January 10th on the polls, which saw third-term aspirant Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated by the opposition candidate, Jagdeo’s Commonwealth observer team said among other things:
“The election campaign period was marked by an unequal contest with extensive, large-scale abuse of state resources. They noted the comprehensive bias of state media against the Common Opposition Candidate’s campaign; the use of military personnel and public officials to support the President’s campaign; the use of Government monies, gifts and other inducements; and, the widespread use of state-owned public transport by the incumbent.
“The Common Opposition Candidate’s campaign received little to no coverage in the state media in clear contravention of the provisions of the Constitution, the Presidential Elections Act and relevant guidelines issued by the Commissioner of Elections. The high penetration of state run radio, television and newspaper across the island, and especially in rural areas, increases the burden of responsibility on state media to take seriously its obligation as a public resource for citizens.”
Both A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change had complained bitterly about lack of access to the state media during the campaigning for general elections in November 2011. The state radio monopoly which was used extensively in the service of the ruling party was also lamented by the opposition. The two groups had also complained about the abuse of state resources by the government on behalf of the ruling party.
Ironically, the Commonwealth’s own mission here to the 2011 polls had cited some of these issues in its final report which also contained a reference to accusations that Jagdeo had attacked reporters in an intimidating manner during campaigning.
In its final report on the November 28, 2011 general elections, the Common-wealth Observer Mission had noted that the lack of independence and impartiality of the media remained a problem and singled out state-owned television, radio and print media, which it said according to the media monitoring unit showed overt bias in favour of the ruling party in its coverage and news reporting.
“State-owned media was not alone in providing imbalanced reporting but bias by the state media was excessive,” the report said, noting that state-owned media has a responsibility to serve the interests of all citizens, “particularly as in some parts of the country it is the only media available.”
The Commonwealth had said that as a consequence of the media bias and the resources at the disposal of the incumbent, there was not a sufficiently level playing field for the campaign. “While the development of codes of conduct for parties and media is welcomed, it is not enough for them merely to be signed by stakeholders. They must also be adhered to,” the Commonwealth had said in its report.
As regards elections campaigning and the media, the Commonwealth report had said that steps should be taken to strengthen and enforce rules on the use of public resources, especially during election campaigns, to facilitate a more level playing field for all parties, and reduce the abuse of state resources through the power of incumbency.
The Commonwealth had also decried the state of radio in Guyana and called for there to be changes.
“Appropriate measures should be expedited to allow multiple nationwide radio and television operators. The people of Guyana should have access to a choice of media outlets for their information. Media diversity facilitates information from different sources and perspectives and promotes dialogue and debate on issues, so that the voices of many rather than a few can be heard. Media diversity encourages healthy competition for quality, timeliness, reliability and talent,” the Commonwealth had said in the report.
It was only in the weeks leading up to the 2011 general elections that Jagdeo shared out radio licences to mainly friends while ignoring established media houses like Stabroek News which had also applied.
The Commonwealth mission to Guyana’s 2011 elections which was headed by Denis Marshall had also said:
““It was reported that President [Bharrat] Jagdeo, during campaign rallies, attacked press personnel by name in an intimidating manner, to the point where the Guyana Press Association claimed that some journalists were fearful for their safety and hesitant to report on PPP/C political events”.
“The political parties are urged to strengthen their adherence to the Code of Conduct for Political Parties and respect for election laws before, during and after the election period. The media are urged to strengthen their adherence to the Code of Conduct for Media, governing the behaviour of media organisations and practitioners before, during and after the election period to ensure fairness, balance, accuracy and integrity in reportage. In particular we recommend that state-owned media provide equitable coverage of all parties, as by their nature state-owned enterprises should be duty-bound to serve the public interest generally rather than one party”.
Jagdeo’s report on the Sri Lanka polls found that the outcome of the 2015 election reflected the will of the people.
It said:
* Voters appeared to exercise their franchise freely with the bulk of voters turning out in the first half of the day, allowing for a smooth and timely closing of the polls.
* Election officials managed the polling process efficiently, including the opening and closing of the polls. There appeared to be no substantial challenges to the voter register at polling stations observed.
* Vote counting was conducted transparently, with counting officials working diligently and with dedication into the early hours of the morning. Domestic observer groups were allowed access to vote counting centres for the first time at this election.
* The declaration of results was swiftly relayed to media and to the public.
