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Blaming the politician–voter too must take responsibility
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The main topic of conversation these days is the forthcoming Presidential Elections. The likely candidates, their merits or demerits, their past records and personal temperaments are subject to discussion. And finally, the conversation ends up with a favourite across the political divide, namely politico bashing.
By near unanimous agreement, the popular view is that, it is the country’s politicos who have messed up and reduced the country to its present plight. The sovereign people, as the Constitution describes them, feel they have done no wrong and it is their chosen representatives who are responsible.
However, it does not take much to realise that this is not really so, but is, simply, a case of evading responsibility by passing the buck.
Two of the cardinal rules of a vibrant and successful democracy is that, the voter takes responsibility for his/her choice of representative, as well as actively ensure that his/her representative does not violate the understanding based on which he/she is elected.
In deciding on his/her representative, the voter has to take note of which candidate is closest to his/her (voter’s) own vision of what the country needs, as well as other qualities such as integrity, commitment and maturity to engage in the tasks of Government. Such a choice can only be made after careful evaluation, and must not be made on some passing whim, or some irrational impulse which has nothing to do with the qualities required to ensure good governance.
The history of voter behaviour in Sri Lanka does not inspire confidence in such capability, although Sri Lanka is one of the oldest functioning democracies in Asia.
Just one example will illustrate this best. At a Parliamentary Election held several years ago, two candidates, accused of the murder of a rival party candidate, were elected to Parliament from the Ratnapura District, taking the top two slots in the preference list.
Despite the list of candidates of that particular political party, having candidates with unblemished records, the voters did not cast their preferences for them, but instead, opted for the ones who were accused of murder, despite their involvement in the crime being well known in the District.
Where the elected representative acts in violation of the mandate given to him by the voter, the remedy is to create public opinion to keep the representative on track. Unfortunately, there is no system of recall in the Sri Lankan Law, to bring to book such errant representatives.
Creating public opinion to continuously put pressure on the elected representatives, presupposes the existence of an environment that permits free discussion, without being restrained by threats and intimidation. Only a democratic society can ensure that such an environment exists for the public.
Unfortunately, many do not quite understand the value and importance of democracy, in the efforts to develop the country. Democracy enables the citizens to correct the mistakes of Government, while it is still in office, by negotiations and applying pressure and by persuading those at the helm of office to do a course correction. In the event these attempts fail, the citizen has the democratic option of voting the Government out of office at Elections.
In contrast, if there is no functioning democracy, then the public will not only not be able to correct the Government, any attempt to do so will be suppressed by the full force of the State machinery.
Furthermore, they may not even be allowed the right to exercise their franchise and change an errant Government.
In that sense, Sri Lanka can today be described as a functioning democracy, where the value of dissent is recognized. The Government and its leaders, including the President and Prime Minister, are severely criticised, with the Media unafraid to publish such criticism.
The President, Prime Minister and other leaders are not only criticised for their actions in Government, but are even called rude names, without repercussions. The only regret is that, there isn’t sufficient discussion on policy matters that effect the nation. The other failure is that, racist elements are taking full advantage of the democratic space to spread their message of hate, without the Government taking adequate steps to bring them to book, when they overstep the limits laid down by Law.
The progressive steps taken to strengthen democracy is clearly evident from the manner in which several institutions of governance are functioning. The Judiciary and the administration of Justice, the Police and the Independent Commissions are clearly making use of the space available for independent action, which must, necessarily, enure to the benefit of the people.
While the Government may not have succeeded in bringing to book the corrupt and arraigning them before the Law, there is now a conversation about corruption and waste, in the public domain. The media coverage given to proceedings of the Parliamentary Committees including the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Public Accounts Committee, have highlighted instances of corruption and waste in the public sector. This enables civil society and others to take up and pursue these matters further.
The run-up to the 2019 Presidential Election is illustrative of another positive feature of a functioning democracy. With more than 3 months for the Election, 2 candidates from the Opposition have not only announced their candidature, but have commenced their campaigns, which are in full swing.
Contrast this with the run-up to the 2015 Presidential Election. The main Opposition candidate had to be chosen after discussions, and planning conducted in secrecy, and the candidature announced only at the last moment, due to the prevailing environment at that time.
It is, therefore, a responsibility cast on the voter, to ensure these democratic gains are further strengthened, so that, the country will benefit in the long run. (javidyusuf@gmail)