Study of the cost of politics in Sri Lanka

Key Takeaways: Cost of Politics

Population: 22.2 million
Head of Government: President Ranil Wickremesinghe
Ruling party/coalition: Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance
Last election: 2020
Next election: 2025
Registered voters: 16.3 million (2020)
Annual salary of member of legislature: LKR 4.8 million (US$14,400)
Year of study: 2023

Advertising and paying supporters and services are the two most important areas to direct funds towards during election campaigns, with substantial resources required for both.

Aspirants rely on individuals or community level leaders to organise and execute their election campaigns or meetings, often compensating them with cash or non-monetary favours for doing so.

In the Sri Lankan political arena, it is common for individuals to secure a national list seat by financially supporting the party's pre-election-related activities, even if they are not actively involved in them.

A common perception in the country stands that a candidate accompanied by a security detail or squad demonstrates power, authority, and influence, which may help them garner more votes.

Formal salaries and benefits often fall short of the ongoing demands placed on MPs, given the expectations that they will personally address constituents' issues and finance various community activities due to their prominent societal roles. MPs are expected to fund party rallies, meetings, health camps, and other events such as funerals, weddings, and big girl parties.

Candidates often use their personal funds, wealth, or assets before seeking support from private sponsors. This is because wealthy sponsors and lenders often seek repayment through receiving state contracts, tenders or even tax concessions, which contribute to entrenching corruption

Political parties, especially those in power, do extend support to candidates, often in the form of "in kind" assistance, such as through personnel and logistical help. But overall political parties typically offer minimal financial support to candidates.

Key Findings

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Context

Sri Lanka holds the distinction of being Asia's oldest democracy, having embraced universal adult suffrage in 1931.
There are 225 members of parliament, 196 are elected through preferential vote proportional representation (PR), and 29 are drawn from a national list based on the total number of votes polled by each party and independent groups at a general election.
In 2018, a mandatory quota for women was introduced in local government elections, but it inexplicably replaced the existing youth quota, rather than operating alongside it.
Limited accountability can partially explain the country’s poor ranking in Transparency International’s 2022 Corruptions Perceptions Index and the lack of trust in parliamentarians as captured in the 2020 Global Corruption Barometer

Drivers of cost of politics

Getting one's name on the ballot paper is a significant financial burden. An aspiring politician must prove their value to the political party from which they seek nominations for the election. These expenses are substantially higher than the official, and nominal, fees and deposits payable to the Electoral Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL).
The nomination process is highly secretive and confined to a select few powerful figures within a party’s hierarchy. Therefore, aspirants also offer favours to senior party politicians responsible for issuance of the ticket to contest for an upcoming election.
Considerable expenses associated with paid advertisements on mainstream media, and increasingly social media platforms, are one of the highest costs incurred during the election campaign. Incumbent candidates of the ruling party are more able to leverage their power and influence to gain these privileges without payment, even exerting control over publicly controlled media.
Given the PR system in place and its enlarged multimember districts, candidates face substantial expenses when traveling to gain voter support, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas. Besides transportation costs, candidates may also need to invest in security due to the prevalence of violence during election campaigns.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The costs associated with entering parliamentary politics have far-reaching consequences. One is the exclusion and under-representation of the average citizen from the hallowed halls of parliament. Even in instances where younger MPs exist, they tend to be affluent individuals, or from prominent political families. Parliament has become the domain of the elite, and is perceived as a self-selecting affluent clique, further eroding their legitimacy in the eyes of wider society.
Faced with a parliament dominated by an affluent elite, driven by self-interests and financial obligations, voters are left disillusioned. They find it hard to believe that their elected representatives prioritise the interests of constituents or the nation.
Politicians have taken advantage of the absence of effective campaign financing laws, exploiting the system to purchase votes through financial contributions from well-connected businesses during elections. Less wealthy or connected candidates often find themselves at a disadvantage leading to a distortion of the democratic process and hindering the representation of the people's true choices in government.
Efforts to compel media houses to disclose all political donations and payments in a publicly accessible manner should be a part of advocacy efforts. To further enhance transparency, candidates should declare their media affiliations on nomination forms submitted to ECSL, in addition to declarations of assets and liabilities.
It is imperative to reform existing educational curricula to instill awareness of civic education from an early age, especially about the significance of voting and the consequences of using it for the right reasons

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