While contestants in the parliamentary race are ruining the environment with wild abandon, a few politicians have dared to be different. They have launched clean propaganda campaigns devoid of posters, polythene etc. Among them are Environment Minister Champika Ranawaka, Justice Minister Milinda Moragoda and Deputy Leader of the UNP Karu Jayasuriya. They are to be lauded profusely for their courage and concern for the environment.

The scourge of illegal election propaganda has provoked a public outcry. Some political nincompoops haven't spared even vital road signs and name boards. People may curse those who deface walls and block drains but the most effective way to deal with them is to reject them by voting for the law-abiding candidates.

The onus is on the voters to show that clean election campaigns pay! This, the voting public could do by casting preferential votes for only those who desist from causing environmental damage and abide by the election laws. In the districts where no such candidates are available, let votes be cast only for political parties or independent groups and not individual candidates.

The blame for environmental pollution and the violation of election laws should be apportioned to voters who turn a blind eye to them. When a candidate who flouts the law by putting up the most number of posters and using the biggest amount of polythene polls the largest number of preferential votes, other politicians get the wrong message. They, too, step up illegal propaganda etc in a bid to outdo one another.

The Elections Commissioner and the police must be faulted for their failure to tame the politicians on the rampage but the people have the most potent weapon with which to cut the political potentates down to size––the vote. Let it be used wisely.