Editorial

4th April 1999

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Charade closes

The charade of the pre-poll spectacle, the rogues gallery of posters of candidates on the walls, coupled with the inane rhetoric that prevailed, may be mercifully coming to a close. (The mug shots on the posters definitely represent a rogues gallery for the simple reason that all candidates who defied the election law were, at least in a manner of speaking, rogues. They violated the basic ground rules, and suffice to say there were many.)

As for the political rhetoric that was heard over the media , it's probably the best indicator of the quality of the gentry who are pledging to lead the provinces. Your typical candidate was a talking - head who spewed vitriol on the opposing candidates, but didn't say anything constructive in the process. Their slogans were guileless. Often, they indicated political bankruptcy of an unprecedented order , for instance when one candidate from the hills proclaimed that if he loses " the others will see stars."(!)

What's sadder is that this entire charade is a precursor to a bigger charade that will follow. These candidates, about whom the less is said the better, will not ride into the sunset after the elections are over. At least, not the winners among them. On the contrary, they will preside over administrations which will typically engage in a monumental wastage of public funds , through a system of provincial administration that has now a proven track record of utter waste and dismal failure.

This newspaper carried a series of special reports recently which exposed the duplication, delay and disorganisation that characterises the typical PC administrations of this country.

It is hoped that some civic organisation will be suitably channelled to carry out a more detailed study on whether the PC system works. Such a study should come up with the obvious.

The PCs represent a constitutionally fostered white elephant of monstrous proportions. Our exposes documented how monies are wasted on cumbersome administrative work, which comes as a necessary concomitant of large organisational structures created ostensibly to serve the people.

What's more galling is that the PCs which were apparently created to solve a specific problem of the people in the North and the East, ended up serving the purposes of some lucky others.

These others are the local politicos who use the PCs as a springboard for greater political adventures. The PCs have become the ideal locations in which they establish their own petty fiefdoms and create their own little electoral pocket boroughs.

In this sense, the PCs have been a godsend to the political tyro and the provincial nondescript. They are, in other words, places where political thugs and no-goods first try their hijinks and flex their political muscles. Barring maybe a few who are the exception, most provincial political types, the people know, fit the stereotype. They wear their kapati-suits, and proceed to rule the roost.

These then are the provincial administrations that were supposed to deliver us from the evil of a separatist and sectarian conflict.

Even in the United Kingdom, where devolution suddenly acquired vogue word status in the political lexicon, provincial politics is now being seen as a dubious pursuit at best.

The Economist, which carries articles on regional assemblies this week, suitably headlines one piece as "Yes to regional assemblies, no to regional politicians." Its difficult to suppress the inevitable rejoinder. How does one have regional assemblies without regional politicians?

Basically, the question encapsulates the riddle and the conundrum that faces any political system that attempts to solve problems on the basis of political theory alone. On the drawing board, yes, the PCs ideally would have devolved power, made things easier for the regional dweller, and redressed their sense of grievance.

But, in reality , they have only succeeded in institutionalising waste and malaise, while also providing happy hunting grounds for a breed of boorish political upstarts.

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