Let us stop blaming the politician

We are five weeks away from an election. An important election let us not forget. Important, but boring, let me add. ‘Boring’ because the voting population has been denied the excitement that accompanies issues, tightness of fight, parties equally matched by dint of equally colourful candidates etc. Indeed we have before us one of those elections where the outcome is so clear that one can quite understand if those who back the favourite and those who back the obvious loser(s) decide to stay at home.

That’s of course not good democratic practice. There is a certain irresponsibility in letting others do the hard work; the business of going to the polling booth, standing line and casting vote. There will be a decent voter turn out but it is possible that it will be lower than at the recently concluded Presidential Elections. Even if this were not the case I doubt if we’ll see the same kind of enthusiasm on the part of the voter on election day. Very few would stay up to check the results.

I have written (as have others) about posters, about vandalism, and the callous disregard for decency on the part of the majority of candidates contesting this election. Concerns have been raised about the utter disregard for election laws. The costs associated with individual campaigns, it has been pointed out, outweigh over a hundredfold the legitimate income a person would receive over a full term in the event he/she gets elected. It has been pointed out also that around 300 large trees would have to be felled to make the paper for the posters of a single big-spending candidate.

It has been pointed out that the public has to foot the bill for removing posters (put up illegally but those who want us to give them the right to make laws!). It has been pointed out also that those who desecrate public and private space cannot be trusted to uphold and protect the rights of the citizen.

And yet, these candidates do not let up one bit. And yet, we vote them into power, again and again. What is the message that we, the voters, give these thugs (and also the crooks we return to Parliament?) I think the relevant candidate/politician would be thinking in the following manner.

‘Everyone else is doing it, so why should I be the one good guy who doesn’t? If I didn’t put up posters, no one will remember my name or my preference number. There are no rewards for losing an election after running a clean election campaign. No one remembers the also-rans. History has shown that by and large the voters don’t really care about the track record of the candidates. They have elected decent people and thugs, skilled individuals and morons, pretty faces and ugly faces, rich and poor. Rapists, murderers, gun-runners, people who fronted for terrorists and agents of foreign powers have all been happily sent to Parliament.

‘History shows that in Sri Lanka a lot of dubious people can get away with a lot of dubious things. You can blame the politician, but the voter is as complicit. You can of course pardon the voter for being taken in the first time around, but when the voter re-elects a crook, a thug and an idiot, then one has to wonder about the purported intelligence of the buddhimath chanda daayakaya.’ True, we really don’t have a great choice given who gets into the various lists of the various parties. On the other hand, we have a choice: we can pick someone who is clearly unsuited or we can vote for a lesser evil. We have shown that we are a nation that is ever ready to repeat mistakes; horrendous mistakes let me add.

Here’s an exercise. You know which party you voted for in 2004. You know who you voted for. Now assess the performance of party and candidate over the past six years. Lived up to expectations? Disappointed you? Was he/she honest? If he/she erred, was any remorse shown or at least was there a positive change in subsequent engagements?

Did that person declare assets in 2004. Has he/she done so now? What kind of lifestyle did the person have in 2004? What’s the story in 2010? If there seems to be more wealth right now, can it be explained in any way? Who backed the person in 2004 and who are the backers today? What kind of people backs this candidate? What’s their track record?

Where does the candidate stand in terms of the poster war? Have you dismissed the idea of voting for candidates who vandalize our walls and invade our privacy? If not, have you resolved to keep your mouth shut when these individuals do worse?

On April 8, 2010, we will be voting ourselves in. In other words, we are going to get the Parliament we deserve as a collective. We won’t get perfection because existing anomalies make it impossible for decent people to contest, let alone win. But there are crooks and crooks, and different kinds of morons. We will determine the degree of idiocy and thieving in the next Parliament.

It’s hard work for the candidates. They need money. They need to talk, to lie, to hit, to out-muscle the competition, wear ceramic smiles and fix their complexions. The voter doesn’t have to spend bucks. The voter has to think. Can the voter think, is the question that will be answered on April 8, 2010 and the answer will be thrown at the voter, i.e. all 14 million of us, every moment from April 9, 2010 until the next election is called.

The candidates are ready, this we know. How about us? Are we ready to be responsible?

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