Opportunity to make good

Just eight days to the general election, I have several things troubling my mind. Primary among them will be the concern; if this will be an election where we as the electorate will exercise our good sense, judgment and our ‘power of one’ (the vote) in an intelligent and rational manner, to bring together a team of parliamentarians that will serve us better than before? A team that will be concerned about making rational policy to assist the executive, the cabinet of ministers and the judiciary carry out the affairs of governance, without interfering in aspects that are basically the domain of the executive, the judiciary and the public service.

They indeed need to hold these institutions responsible for the manner in which resources are allocated and expended by seeking accountability, keeping a hawk-eye on them. But, that must not extend to affairs of recommending their supporters for employment, bypass systems based on meritocracy, interfere in maintaining law and order, allocation of land and permits for extraction of minerals and other natural resources and the like, letting that be the job of the specific public sector organizations that are tasked to administer and manage these.

Would we then see those who were known to be corrupt, short-sighted, ineffective and unscrupulous go or fade away, for we the people, will exercise our ‘power of one’ wisely? Will the new team elected, be able to place issues before self or partisan interests, so we could all look and work towards building a better Sri Lanka for all her people for now and for the future? Will it be the right mix of the wise, experienced, women and youthful energy we would see? Will they have the resolve and determination to make this the very last Parliamentary forum of this kind; so we could move on to a better model of it, than we have seen since the implementation of our new Constitution?

Consensual politics

Making a better future for the down-trodden. File photo

Will it be possible for the executive President as Head of State to change the system of governance including the manaapa’ system of elections as pledged, with the support of the new legislature? Could it be replaced by a system that would establish a culture of consensual politics that can help to further unite our nation and develop it in an equitable and sustainable manner?

Will our Head of State reduce his Cabinet to a maximum of 35 as pledged regardless of the outcome of the election? Will the sense of uncertainty that will be created among those that may not get elected, or not hold influential portfolios in the next Government lead to a denudation of our fragile natural resources? Will the Head of State be able to wield a strong will and act fast and rapid, as was effectively done to overcome the threat of terrorism, to stop any deforestation, extraction of other natural resources, land grabs, and other mal-practices, to bring about a society that is disciplined and just?

Politics to statesmanship

Would we be able to see a Sri Lanka, where we and our children can stop having to lie about where they grow up and live, just to get them into the school of our choice? Can we restore the systems we had some decades ago, where no one had to grease another’s palm to get the award of a contract on tender, secure a job or have access to a normal public utility or service? Can we see an end to the chit system of politicians, where the concept of political authority, is restored to be the authority of the public and the judicial service?

Would we be able to build a strong and sustainable future for our country, where social justice, rule of law and equal opportunities will reign supreme regardless of race, cast or creed? Will the hands of the Head of our State be strengthened to enable him to transform from being the political leader he now is, to become the just and righteous statesman, he wants to be?

Power of one

The power of democracy; when delivered without reservation can be a most potent force for progress and socially equitable development. Equally, a democratic process exercised in the form of the ‘freedom of the ass’, will negate its potency and faith a people will have in its effectiveness. For democracy to thrive their needs to be a strong base of discipline, fair-play and bipartisan intent.

I recalling what I wrote in an earlier column, where. I stated that “it all began around 500 BC with the Athenian concept of direct democracy, where all adult male citizens of the Greek city state of Athens gathered in the arena, to participate and vote on issues. The ‘power of one’ in decision making at the time was significant.

It was also interesting that Athenians who lived close to or by the city walls were not allowed to vote on issues that concerned waging war or defending the city state against enemies. The rationale behind this decision was that they would have a prejudicial view or a vested interest when voting, for they may not be able to place the interest of the State above their self-interest of their house and property being affected at time of an attack.

Exercising the power of one that began then in the direct form, withered away with the sheer unmanageability of the process with population and size of the ‘electorate’ growing. In a majority of democracies around the world, a shift was made, with elected representatives mandated to represent group interests. Often called the proportional representation system, the individual citizen delegated his or her power to decide or influence over governance issues, to another individual who then became his or her elected representative functioning on behalf of all those who elected him or her. And thus the ‘Power of one’ was subjugated to a secondary status with reliance on the goodness and the effectiveness of the representative, in whose charge each individual’s power to influence or decide on issues was placed. In the real domain there are still some semblances of direct democratic representation seen in governance such as the Swiss system of Canton-based decision making, the African tribal systems and the Gandhian concept of the Panchayat or Gram Swaraj.

Bottom up

We are now promised a return to a system of governance that is more ‘grass roots’ based, where the smallest unit of administration i.e. the village or the ward can administer and manage its own affairs. This can also give us a more democratic system for electing representatives at district, provincial and national levels from among those who climb up the ladder, proving themselves as capable leaders at each level.

A sea-change

What perhaps is at stake at this general election is an opportunity for us to exercise our ‘power of one’ to make a sea-change in what was, to what should be in our body-politic. It certainly is not only about casting our votes for the right candidates who will be able to support make that sea-change and make good what was bad in our systems this far. It is about our being intelligently vigilant about how that process of change is taken on, for the betterment of our nation. Such vigilance must be supportive when the right direction is taken and must cry foul making calls for caution when we see wrong.