The underlying principle involved concerns not the arithmetic of fairness, but the calculus of morality. It is when a civilisation puts the prospect of a person who deserves the death penalty according both humanity and humility, but it needs to be rooted in a moral conviction about a society’s values.Can an election ever throw up the right candidate? Or to put it more moderately, is an election the mechanism best suited to throw up representatives that will strive to work for their constituents and attempt to better their life? Are there in-built into the electoral process, a set of imperatives that help pre-determine one kind of outcome, irrespective of the quality of the candidates?
PAS is contesting against PKR in seven seats in Election 2013 out of fear that PKR candidates would defect once elected, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said yesterday.
On Nomination Day last Saturday, PAS and its ally PKR both fielded candidates in one federal seat and six state seats although seat negotiations in the opposition pact were said to have been concluded.
“There were clashes because we want to save Pakatan Rakyat (PR),” Abdul Hadi was recorded as saying yesterday on a YouTube clip titled “Kenapa berlaku pertindihan calon PAS & PKR?” (Why were there clashes between PAS and PKR candidates?).=Increasingly, it would seem that what it takes to win an election is not only very different from what it takes to govern, but might well be at odds with the idea of providing governance. The privileging of representativeness in our democracy, with an emphasis on caste and religion, has meant that electable candidates are chosen with a view to who has the biggest electoral draw in terms representing the interests of a community rather than select those that have a view on issues of policy or administration. At one level, democracy does not require its practitioners to come equipped with a track record, and representativeness is perhaps the most vital element in the idea of democracy, but over a period of time, what representativeness has come to mean identity rather than action; the leader resembles his or her constituents, speaks for them and on the occasion that he or she acts on their behalf, it is often through the same narrow lens of community. Under these circumstances, the election abets the process of weeding out those that see their role in more secular terms, and focuses its attention narrowly on those with more sectarian agendas.
“We don’t want our government to fall like Perak,” he added.
Two PKR and one DAP assemblymen in Perak defected after Election 2008 to become Barisan Nasional (BN)-friendly independents, causing the collapse of the PR state government.
PKR suffered a string of high-profile defections since Election 2008, where six federal lawmakers quit the party within a year.
In the current context of the times we live in, it seems highly unlikely that we are ready to take this larger view. If anything, the current mood is pushing towards the opposite end of the spectrum; there is a great desire to flex muscles and act in red-blooded rage. The disenchantment with the political establishment and with the current mechanisms of delivering governance have helped created a climate where visible action of any kind is presumptively valued. The need to stop talking and start doing things, whatever they might be, sometimes makes nuance a casualty, for nuance has become seen to be synonymous with the ability to skilfully argue one’s way into deliberate inaction.The sense of being under siege, which is graphically underlined by the manner in which media presents our own world back to us for outraged consumption, leads to a desire to lash out with a sense of grinding finality.
Winning elections requires a peculiar kind of caste and community arithmetic, multiplied by financial resources and propped up by on-ground muscle. The reason why the incidence of criminality in politics has been such a visible presence is partly due to the fact there are great similarities between the two skill sets. It is easier for a local tough to become a politician than it is for a local schoolteacher, to use a crude stereotype, not only because it easier for the former to mobilise resources and numbers far more easily but also because the electorate sees more advantages in being represented by someone who can thump the table on their behalf rather than someone who is not seen to have a realistic chance of winning.
The prospect of winnability makes unsuitable choices rational, for it is seen to be smarter to align with those that could win rather than root for those that might act on one’s behalf much more usefully if elected, but are seen with little real chance of doing so. Money is the other reason why only those that already have the ability or are able to generate it, are found suitable to be offered as candidates. The political system wards off change at the point of entry itself, by making the entry level conditions unsuitable for anyone but those that toe the existing line and play by the rules already laid down
The PAS syura council reportedly vetoed several candidates last February proposed for the 13th general election by the Islamist party’s leadership over concerns of defections.
Abdul Hadi refused to name the candidates whose loyalty was suspect, but stressed that PAS had no problems co-operating with the DAP and PKR.
“But we want a strong government, a government that can rule,” he said.
He added that PAS fielded a candidate in the Panti state seat in Johor because PKR’s Mohd Annuar Mohd Salleh almost did not turn up.
“The time was almost up and he did not turn up. We were on standby, afraid that we might not be able to contest. So PAS was forced to contest. When PAS entered, then only he came in,” said Abdul Hadi.
The Labuan federal seat will see a three-cornered fight involving PKR’s Ibrahim Menudin, Hadnan Mohamad of PAS and BN’s Rosman Isli.
The Sungai Acheh state seat in Penang will see PAS’s Mohd Yusni Mat Piah and PKR’s Badrul Hisham Shaharin going up against BN’s Datuk Mahmud Zakaria.
The four other state seats with PAS and PKR candidates are Kota Damansara in Selangor, as well as Bukit Besi, Kota Putera and Seberang Takir in Terengganu.
The seat overlaps would likely split voter support between PAS and PKR, indirectly giving BN an upper hand in the May 5 polls, the most keenly-contested elections in recent history.
The election requires that a large number of people exercise their preference for one candidate over the others on the basis of some knowledge and familiarity with the individual’s previous track record, the party that he or she represents, the promises made, and the overall feeling of empathy and trust generated by the individual. Given the sizes of constituencies and the scale of the geographies involved, it is difficult for someone who is already not a visible presence in at least part of the constituency to mobilise adequate support. Chances are that the choices will veer towards those that already enjoy a measure of prominence and power in the area- superannuated student leaders, local toughs, successful lawyers, families of politicians, wealthy landlords, caste and community leaders and the like.
The underlying assumption of elections is that every individual takes a personal decision, on the basis of the inputs received, to choose the person deemed suitable to represent his or her interests. The truth is in the Indian social construct, the individual does not necessarily act as a singular entity and is often inclined to act as part of a larger collective. This is true not only of elections, but of many other walks of life. The election is in some ways almost asking for people to find their own appropriate collective and to cobble together enough numbers so as to increase the bargaining power at their disposal. It is rational to do so, for otherwise every individual feels virtually no ability to influence the outcome.
The middle class distrust of politicians is in part a sense of frustration with the electoral process. Part of the reason why visible outrage does not automatically translate into higher voting percentages is because the idea is laced with a sense of presumptive futility. It is also the reason why movements like the one led by Anna Hazare get traction; the apolitical nature of the struggle is found valuable. The disenchantment with the movement is in part due to its involvement in electoral politics; the paradox being that the impetus for change cannot succeed unless it becomes a variable in the elections but the very act of getting involved with anything to do with elections is seen as an act of contamination.
Electoral reforms will help. But too much has to change before reforms by themselves can be effective. As a structure, elections cannot create intent; that must exist in the system. Without intent, the structure merely re-inforces and perhaps amplifies all that is already wrong. Even when elections are not rigged, in some ways they always are. If not by design, then by definition.
