Poll campaign goes high-tech

Politicians have turned tech-savvy in their poll campaign, inundating citizens with SMSs and e-mails.

Deprived of the right to plaster public places with promotional posters, Sri Lanka's politicians have turned tech-savvy in their campaign for the April 2 parliamentary polls, inundating citizens with Short Message Services (SMSes) and electronic mails extolling their virtues.

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There is a marked difference between the campaigning for these polls and for Sri Lanka's last general elections, in December 2001. This is the first time political parties are making optimum use of mobile phones and the Internet for publicity.

Observes the deputy editor of the country's largest selling newspaper, "Lankadeepa" (light of Sri Lanka), Thushara Gunaratne, "There’s a huge leap from the last election campaign in the use of technology. Almost all the urban population that has access is receiving SMSes and emails, and in most cases, both from parties and individual candidates."

He feels the initiative to ban publicity posters has forced candidates to devise other means of promoting themselves.

In earlier elections, posters were the most prevalent publicity device. In the run up to polls, streets, bus stops, shops and community walls would be covered with hoardings. But this time, fines were imposed on those who put up posters and police officials conducted regular raids on printing presses to ensure these were not being produced.

Among the parties using hi-tech campaign techniques is the Buddhist monks' Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which is contesting polls for the first time.

One of its promotions urges, "Sinhala Buddhist sons and daughters, here is the last chance to protect your country, race and religion. Come forward and fulfill your duty."

Says software engineer Damith Abeysinghe, "I am inundated with SMSes from the JHU. Although I have not yet decided which party I should vote for, these kinds of inspiring text messages can influence unsure voters a great deal."

Unfortunately, some political parties are also using the Internet and mobile phones to spread negative publicity.

The JHU monks have been at the center of a systematic electronic attack by a group allegedly led by the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

This maybe because there are predictions the JHU will significantly eat into the vote bank of the JVP's election alliance with President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

The most popular JHU candidate, a young, charismatic monk, venerable Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera, has been at the receiving end of a vicious negative publicity campaign. Emails sent to voters accuse him of having "pervert desires" and breaking up the marriage of a popular Sri Lankan singer by initiating an affair with her husband.

The JVP, which has criticized the monks on several occasions, officially denies any involvement with the emails.

Interestingly, JVP propaganda secretary Wimal Weerawansa was quoted as saying at a popular talk show recently that the UNP planned to kill Thera just before the election and put the blame on the JVP.

Poll candidates are running individual promotions as well. One such campaigner is former minister of science and technology and economic reforms Milinda Moragoda, of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP).

Says businessman Illyas Badhurdeen from Colombo's business hub Pettah, "I have been getting Moragoda’s SMSes for the last week or so. So have my friends, especially those in the business sector. We have already decided to vote for the UNP."

He adds, "In the absence of promotional posters, these messages play an important role in influencing voters."

Significantly, Kumaratunga's SLFP is largely keeping away from such campaigns, especially at the party level. Explains SLFP spokesman Mangala Samaraweera, "Everybody knows the SLFP-JVP alliance is heading for a resounding victory. There is no need for us to promote ourselves."

The UNP spokesman Moragoda says, "Rather than running a poster campaign that defaces the city, making use of modern means of communication to promote oneself should be seen as something wholesome, and should be encouraged."

For other poll candidates, especially cash strapped debutants, SMSes and emails are handy publicity tools.

Reveals a UNP Colombo district candidate who is contesting for the first time, Shefeek Rajbdeen, "Novices like us face a major challenge in promoting our preference numbers as posters are completely banned. Also, not everybody can afford television advertisements. So I started a SMS campaign, initially sending messages to friends who sent it to their friends."

Around 1.4 million people of the 19 million-strong population of Sri Lanka use mobile phones. The number of mobile phone users has nearly doubled since the last polls in December 2001. About 750,000 people have access to the Internet. Nearly 55 percent of them are in Sri Lanka's Western province, comprising the districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara.

The SMSes are mostly in English, and a few in Sinhala. The emails are in English, Tamil and Sinhala.

Even Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is using emails to campaign for these polls.