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There are the creatures that feast on money,currency notes to be exact, termites and moths are among them. What has reminded us of these ‘money -eating’ beings is a report in a Sinhala daily that termites have damaged many wads of greenbacks worth Rs. 250 million stashed away by a former presidential candidate. The unnamed ex-candidate is not alone is not alone in having benefitted from surplus campaign funds, most of which are concealed and/or laundered through various fronts. We are not in the a position to vouch for the veracity of the aforesaid news item, but the fact remains that absence of strict law regulate election-related finance and preventive nexus between corrupt politicians and unscrupulous moneybags from undermining the integrity of the electoral process and the will of the public has enabled campaign funds. This has not only led to various frauds but also created a situation where the interests of wealthy financiers who bank roll election campaigns by way of investment, take precedence over those of the public, and the politicians who benefit from the largesse of donors facilitate corrupt deals for the benefit of the latter, the Treasury bond scams and the sugar tax racket being only two cases in point. 

The Regulation of Election Expenditure Act (REEA) No.3 of 2023 is being hailed in some quarters as a silver bullet. It was passed amidst much fanfare to achieve some lofty objectives: ensuring transparency of contributions to political parties and a level playing field for all candidates  preventing other countries, foreign organisations, etc., from influencing governments here, putting and end to the misuse of state resources, and enabling the public to exercise their franchise without being subjected to undue influence through clientelist methods. But the laws that arenot enforced properly are of little use. The upcoming presidential election will be the moment of truth for the REEA. But all signs are that some candidates will have finished bribing voters by the time the presidential election is officially declared. 

President Ranil Wickramesinghe, like his predecessors, is using public funds to bribeelectors, giving away as he does various handouts on the pretext of disturbing poor relief. Billions of Rupees have been allocated for accelerated development projects handled by ruling party politicians, according to the Opposition. Freehold land title deeds are being distributed generously among those who are already occupying plots of state land,  and the beneficiaries are said to number two million. In short, the President is playing Santa. 

The Election Commission (EC) is bound to face an unnervingly gargantuan challenge after the declaration of the next presidential election. It will saddled with the Sisyphean task of ensuring enforcement of election law and candidates’ compliance therewith to create a level playing field for all contestants. It is hoped that the EC will be able to deny termites the pleasure of tasting greenbacks after the election.