Everyone of us must have come across politicians making false electoral promises. And recently, we have also seen political parties making promises that can create a fiscal crisis if implemented. In an ideal democracy, this problem shouldn't arise as the electorate votes for the ideal candidate based on the information they have. Does this kind of democracy exist in India where majority of the population is literate only for the definition's sake? And most importantly, what is the role of the electorate in a real democracy?
India is a burning example of how corruption can be rampant if the democracy is not defined properly. Just because democracy allows anyone who has been voted to be the best option to represent people, it opens up innumerable options for any person who has the wherewithal to sway the electorate with money or power. This has clearly proved that illiterate / irresponsible electorate will result in the election of a corrupt / irresponsible person who has no intentions of fulfilling his promises or a person with the iron will to implement his promises without any concern for the larger good. And we are all silent witnesses to such "Elections".
To address this issue, a lot of NGOs are trying their level best to get the "None of the above" option in an election so that voters can say that they like none of the contestants. Election Commission has been trying to get hold of people who are resorting to electoral malpractices. In my view, even the "none" option doesn't work as long as the electorate has a short-term horizon and can be easily attracted by money / liquor / false promises. Does this mean that the country has to be a silent witness to false electoral promises? The answer is a resounding "NO".
The essence of democracy is to let the people choose the right candidate. But, it doesn't mean providing unrestricted options to public. The solution is an autonomous body on the lines of Election commission comprising bureaucrats who are selected based on an objective selection process and not by nominations. The evaluation committee for such an interview should be elected by the applicants only from people who have applied for that position. This body should have the responsibilities of Evaluating manifestos, disqualifying potentially disastrous promises and filing & fighting legal cases against elected representatives who haven't fulfilled their electoral promises.
- The Autonomous body should create a 5 year plan for the govt budget and finances based on the current state of affairs and economic scenario before the election nominations are invited. This plan should be submitted to the President of India, Governor of concerned state, Chief justice of India and Chief Justice of concerned state. The objective is to arrive at an unbiased view of the sate of finances for the next 5 years. These things shouldn't be opened before the nominations are filed. After the nominations are filed, these should be made public.
- Ask the Election contestants who are independents to submit their manifestos with a detailed plan of execution, expected budget, funding plan and risk analysis. The Plan should be evaluated for feasibility and potential impact on the Treasury along with a Cost-benefit analysis based on the earlier analysis carried out by the autonomous body. And a grade has to be assigned. In cases of infeasibility or low benefits, the mainfesto should be deemed invalid and the nomination cancelled.
- In case of people contesting on party tickets, the party should submit a pro forma state budget highlighting the key revenues and expenditures for the next 5 years. This should show the impact of thier manifesto. Now a cost benefit analysis should be done by the autonomous body based on their earlier analysis. In case the manifesto results in deterioration of state of finances, the manifesto should be rejected.
- All the parties / candidates with approved manifestos can contest the elections. Those whose manifestos have been rejected can appeal and the appeal tribunal will give out a judgement with in a month. Only after the appeal results are out, can the elections be conducted.
-Apart from the above stated responsiility of disqualifying people making costly promises or infeasible solutions, the body also has a responsibility of filing a case of Fraud against the Elected representatives who haven't fulfilled their promises made in the election campaing. It is also the duty of the body to fight the case legally.
Such an autonomous supervisor will tackle the problem of False / Infeasible promises... As I have said, this is an ideal solution!
As with any solution, creation of such an autonomous supervisor has its own pitfalls. The bureaucrats can misuse the power they have if they are corrupt themselves. This can be controlled to an extent if they are kept under constant surveillance by Central intelligence departments + intelligence departments of states ruled by different political parties. This will address the conflict of interest to an extent. Another way of curbing this is by making sure that no bureaucrat is in the body for more than 3 years and they take up the job as their last assignment. This will also control conflict of interest among the bureaucrats.
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Great. These are some wonderful thoughts. I have my thoughts too. Read on.
ReplyDeleteYou propose creating an autonomous body. In your own words - "The solution is an autonomous body on the lines of Election commission comprising bureaucrats who are selected based on an objective selection process and not by nominations." The election commission is already there. You want to have one more body. Further, you say that contestants(independent and the parties) should present their plans and these plans be compared with the plan of the autonomous body. Don't you think you are binding the contestants too much?
The second important point that you have made is this. "In case the manifesto results in deterioration of state of finances, the manifesto should be rejected." Why would anybody present such a scenario in which the state finances deteriorate? Again, if there is something radical that one might be able to achieve by one's manifesto, this autonomous body might throw it into the dustbin. This kind of a system leads to too many controls - and what all can you control? Moreover, you seem to be accepting that this system can be flawed too and then to solve this, you put the responsibility in the hands of some Central Intelligence Departments etc. Isn't this like an infinite loop? Have a Controller. Then have another one to control the Controller? Have one more to control the Controller's Controller? Where are we heading dude??
Fundamentally, you are trying to solve the problem of a flawed system by way of another flawed system. Subjectivity can never be eliminated. (That's what is the inference by Hiesenberg too. As you reach the bottom of every problem, you will see that it all becomes stochastic - uncertain.) Hence you should be emphasizing on the building blocks of the existing system - we the people. If people are sane, then they can demand development from the politicians. If not, they must be educated - and who do you think will do it? You and I have the onus. We make the system, rather we are the system. Consider a simple example. A cab picks you up everyday to drop you off to the office. The driver blatantly violates traffic rules and moves ahead. Do we as responsible citizens tell him not to do it? I doubt if we do it. Rather, we'd laugh at someone who did it. Education today is mistaken for qualifications unfortunately. He/she who is from an IIT, a MIT or a Harvard is considered educated regardless of the values he/she stands for. Great systems are a built if it has great people with the right values - not highly qualified people with no values. So we must have great people in all spheres of a nation - the parties and politicians will then verily be good. Akbar was illiterate wasn't he? But he was successful too. Why? He had the sanity to pick the right guys with great values!!
I might not be in agreement with all that the RSS says and does. But yes one thing that I like about it is that it's goal is nation building by way of man making. It understands that only great men can make great nations. So, instead of concentrating on reforming systems, one should concentrate on reforming oneself and hence the people who build the system. A slow, sure and long term solution, in my opinion is therefore 'proper education(neither literacy nor qualification) of the masses'. Everything will fall in place.
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I agree with the last lines from the previous comment that awareness is the key. Unfortunately the popular television channels and some newspapers are owned by parties.Even the so called objective newspapers don't tell us what is actually happening and the level of corruption has not been documented. In my state the government has given free television sets and low cost rice and has won over the masses. Ironically many labourers think that this government is responsible for the rise in the price of petrol and gold and complain about the inflation. Many villagers strongly believe that if a candidate has paid them a sum of five hundred then it's unethical(!) not to vote for him.
ReplyDeleteIt is our value system that needs a shake up! We are all mercenary regardless of our status and are dazzled by gold and currency.We need to inculcate a strong sense of responsibility and teach ourselves to enjoy participating in public activities and public service.
I agree with the last comments. Its just that in our country the level of literacy is so low that we can't expect the common man to be socially responsible by not voting for corrupt politicians. An ideal system should have its own checks and balances to weed out corrupt people.
ReplyDeleteLets take the case of a young teenager who wants to do an undergraduation in History. People may say that children should be given the independence to do whatever they want. But, its been proven time and again that teenagers tend to take decisions because of peer pressures and not because they have a real penchant for it. Its the responsibility of a dutiful parent to discern this fine difference between individualism and herd mentality and set the things right by properly counseling the adolescent if necessary.
My solution to the problem of false electoral promises is also based on the same philosophy. Here the democratic system dons the role of a dutiful parent also. With a population that is largely illiterate and poor, they are susceptible to being manipulated. Educating them about corruption is a long term solution. But its a time consuming process. The system would disintegrate by the time such thing happens. After all our country has the reputation of taking a good 200 years before a grass root level of any kind against the British rule was kicked off. Thats our culture! And today we are no better. :)