MAKE THAT VOTE COUNT
All for informed choices
VISA RAVINDRAN
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People should engage actively with politics to root out the evils that threaten true and transparent democracy.
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Photo: P.V. Sivakumar
Responsible choices: Citizens should be taught how crucial their vote is.
Election after election, like selecting bandits to guard our property in our ‘enlightened democracy, we let parties field candidates with doubtful reputations and let winnability or fear or both guide their political choice. This is so deeply-entrenched in our system that many have come to believe that it is impossible to fight against. What is encouraging this time round, however, are three developments: the new spirit of citizen’s action after the Mumbai terror attack, the growth of civil society organisations for electoral reform and the use of communication technology to create an informed electorate.
In 2005, N. Vittal wrote an article “Ethics in Public Administration”, in which he suggested a three-pronged strategy to fight corruption. “The first is the simplification of rules and regulations so that the scope for corruption is reduced. The second is empowering the public and ushering in greater transparency. The third,” he concluded, “is effective punishment.” The second is happening to a certain extent by the rise of civil society but the first and third can be achieved only by the State.
Cleanse the system
What interested groups can do., however, is to form pressure groups to urge those in power to cleanse the system in relation to the timely delivery of justice and restore public credibility in our political and judicial mechanisms. Their work should go on without interruption for sometime and not gather momentum only during election time.
Lincoln in 1864, said his “nerves trembled at the approach of a crisis ‘in the near future’ threatening the future of the homeland…. Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavour to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people (italics mine) until all the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” The kind of corruption and blatant misuse of power that prevail today and the wanton reinforcement of caste, religious and regional differences to sustain vote bank politics multiply the effect of Lincoln’s words many times and the rapid growth of money in a few hands make his fears of long ago ours today. But fears should have the effect not of petrifying action but of triggering citizens to work out corrective measures and move towards political engagement to root out the evils that threaten true and transparent democracy.
Media has a very important role to play in the creation of an informed electorate. What is an informed electorate? Citizens who have the necessary information to protect their own interests when they exercise their franchise — citizens who take the effort to vote realising how crucial a duty it is and do so knowing what is best for them. One has to tackle voter apathy, brainwashing and mass confusion by providing informed analysis, debate and discussion to negate apathy, fear and terror. The Carter Center for example, does this round the world through health programmes, election-monitoring and mediation. As their banner states, they are “waging peace, fighting disease, building hope.”
The individual citizen , in order to make intelligent and potent use of his political rights, must be actively aided by the media to make objective conclusions of his own, to fight corrupt systems with an unshakeable belief in the triumph of a system of checks and balances that does its job unfailingly every time.
Effective tool
A closer interaction between representatives and people should evolve and the right of recall will add another effective tool in the hands of the electorate once the electorate starts following what the political representative is up to during his term in office.
The compulsory declaration of assets by electoral candidates was a landmark civil society achievement by the Association for Democratic Reforms with supporting groups. When the government of the day tried to nullify this by bringing an ordinance to prevent implementation of the Supreme Court order by amending the Representation of People’s Act, they intervened again to stymie the move. Today National Election Watch and other groups like MYNETA work in conjunction with them and there is an online petition that citizens can sign and comment on, towards establishing an incorrupt system. The press and broadcast media can effectively support this by choosing to verify their facts, not giving in to the commercial urgency of capturing eyeballs by dramatising “breaking news” and generally acting with much more wisdom and responsibility; the lack of which was brought home by the coverage of the Mumbai terror attacks that ended up helping the terrorists and endangering the commandos fighting them.
When unimportant bits of news are reported with undue prominence repeatedly, what is called the “feedback effect” in media studies comes into effect. The unimportant gains in importance because of the way it is positioned and treated. Less about celebrity weddings, speculation about their marital status, cricket and other kinds of gossip and ‘infotainment’ and more responsible choice and dissemination of news can and should make a significant difference in our way of looking at the duties that the right to vote brings with it. The fence should not be eating the crops.
Fact file
* 979 candidates out of the total 1759 candidates fighting elections in the first phase have left the column for disclosing their PAN numbers vacant. Among these are 515 of the 619 Independents contesting, giving the lie to at least some of the sanctimonious claims that they are in the fight to bring probity in public life.
* The number of crorepatis has risen from nine per cent in 2004 to 14 in 2009. A.P., with 64 out of its 314 candidates, tops the list, followed by U.P. (35 of 268), Maharashtra 29 and Bihar 23. Party-wise, the Congress (45) leads and the BJP follows with 30.
* The number of candidates with criminal records is a frightening 222 out of 1715 with Bihar holding the crown at 51, followed by U.P. at 46, Maharashtra 42 and A.P. 34. These are not minor crimes but charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and extortion.
* The poorer the state, the richer its representatives is the conclusion drawn by one article comparing the percentage living below poverty line in a state and its rich netas.
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