Opinion - News Analysis   

Can we do without politicians?

We undermine the legitimacy of the entire democratic system when the political class as a whole is sought to be declared as unworthy of popular esteem and public respect, and as totally devoid of merit and idealism, writes HARISH KHARE.

The Chief Election Commissioner, J.M. Lyngdoh, caused an uproar when he likened politicians to a cancer.

FOR SOME time now, it has been deemed to be politically correct to deride "politics" and its principal practitioners, the politicians. This itch can be traced back to the era of economic reforms, circa 1991. The "reformers", the business community and its advocates in the economic media, and the incipient civil society-wallahs joined hands to convince the nation that everything that was wrong or faulty or broken down could be attributed to the country's politicians as a class. This prejudice got elevated as a self-evident, undisputable proposition when during the late 1990s, a number of politicians engaged in crassly amoral and patently indefensible practices.

The "Hawala" episode came to epitomise the creeping immorality and even criminality of an immoral political class. The United Front interregnum brought to fore the politicians' unattractive face as the Sitaram Kesris, the H.D. Deve Gowdas and the Laloo Prasad Yadavs strutted ungainly on the national stage; and, crusading judges and investigators (like U.N. Biswas) instigated a national mood of revulsion against the politicians. The middle classes in particular proclaimed themselves to be tired of all the scheming and the intriguing that defined the government at the Centre; and, these newly empowered middle classes switched allegiance to those who promised suu-raj.

But even after more than five years of suu-raj, the politicians remain a suspect breed. Because of its coalition nature, the national government has remained a weak, and, consequently, a mellower governing arrangement, but the "political system" remains an insensitive affair and corrupt politicians still outnumber the honest and the inefficient. For every political party it comes down to my "Jogi" being cleaner than your "Judev".

So, when the Chief Election Commissioner, J.M. Lyngdoh, recently spoke out against the politicians as a "cancer" on society, many thought he was not overstating the case. Mr. Lyngdoh, of course, has developed a knack for singing the right song in the wrong tone. During the Gujarat elections, the saffron brigade and its apologists in the media reviled him, and during the recent elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh he gave sufficient offence to the Congress. Understandably the political leaders of all hues literally jumped on Mr. Lyngdoh for his "cancer on society" remarks. But does the country share his views?

All said and done, a democratic political system has to be a representational arrangement; that means the system can be operationalised only through those individuals who choose to undertake — for whatever reason — the difficult, at times demanding and often demeaning, chores of representational politics. By definition, a politician is the one who intermingles with the "unwashed millions", is willing to relate to them and to articulate their aspirations. The politician is the bare-foot salesman of the democratic political system, and since he is also the cutting edge of the political system, his shortcomings, aberrations and deficiencies do distract from the acceptability of that system.

But if not politicians, then who? Generals? Or a generals-bureaucratic cabal? The generals in South Asia have a very poor record as rulers. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar are all failed states. In fact, the generals in Pakistan have long served as a very poor counter-example to this country.

We undermine the legitimacy of the entire democratic system when the political class as a whole is sought to be declared as unworthy of popular esteem and public respect, and as totally devoid of merit and idealism.

Why discount the possibility of re-charging and strengthening the institutions of public accountability in a manner that will make the politicians "behave"? A vigilant and watchful civil society can and must raise its collective voice so as to compel the political class to be mindful of the nation's larger good.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Can we do without politicians?
• It is not their business
• Random voices
• The answer lies in getting involved
• Speaking in one voice

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu