‘Subharathi’ program used for election propaganda

- SLBC Watch

(January 02, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The January 2nd, 7 a.m. ‘Subharathi’ program on SLBC was a discussion with the Bandula Gunawardene, Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs, with several other officers of Consumer Protection Authority of the same ministry. The discussion was devoted entirely to create the impression that the prices of commodities have in fact come down dramatically, in contradiction with the allegation by the opposition allegations that the prices of essential commodities are unbearable. The presenter of the program was Sudammika Wijesinghe. While the Minister continues to attack the opposition’s allegations on this issue, no opportunity was provided for the opposition to counter the minister’s views or to put forward their own views directly.

Providing opportunities for discussion of prices of essential goods can be a laudable attempt directed towards the greater education of the public on such matters. The ‘Subharathi’ program claims that it is an attempt to educate the public to have an enlightened view about commerce and trade, particularly in the areas that worst affect the lives of the ordinary people. However, if the attempt is a genuine one, the opportunity should be provided for persons holding opposing views to express their positions so that the government can be aware of such criticisms and could answer these. Also, the opportunity must be provided to the critics to question the statements made on behalf of the government, particularly when a minister himself attends such discussions.

The problem of the prices of essential commodities is a very vital aspect in almost all elections in Sri Lanka. Particularly in this election, there has been the strong airing of views, not only by political parties but also by the people themselves, that due to extraordinary levels of price hikes they cannot cope with the existing salaries. The common candidate of several political parties has made a promise of increase of 10,000 Rupees in the salary of government workers if he comes to power. The underlying criticism is that there is a severe problem of underpayment and difficulties relating to purchase of essential commodities.

Besides this, there is the allegation that some prices are brought down as a preparation for the elections, with the view to woo the voters, and that soon after elections there will be price hikes again. In this regard, particularly the price of rice, which is the most essential commodity, is being disucussed. The minister himself admitted purchase of rice from abroad particularly to deal with the scarcity at the moment. All these are matters of public interesting and therefore deserve a proper public discussion involving all parties.

The early morning prime time program ‘Subharathi’ continues to be used every day directly for election propaganda, and this is an unfair use of state media. How this program has been abused in the recent days and this has been pointed out in the previous columns. The SLBC should be taken to task by the election commissioner, the opposition and all those who are engaged in election monitoring for the blatant abuse in violation of the election law.