Our
political system is built on the foundations of corruption.
We have come to a stage when honesty is no longer compatible
with political survival. Prime minister Vajpayee has gone
on record that every elected legislator starts his career
with a big lie by signing an affidavit that his election
expenditure was within the ceiling prescribed by law.
The
estimated expenditure incurred by parties and candidates
for Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections is of the order
of about Rs.7000 crore. Strangely, this figure in absolute
terms is comparable to the exorbitant election expenditure
in the US. In the 2000 elections in the US for the presidency,
both houses of congress, gubernatorial offices and state
legislatures, the total expenditure was estimated to be
about $ 3 billion. About half of it was incurred for issue-advertising
by political action committees (PACs) and pressure groups.
The actual campaign expenditure was probably about $ 1.5
billion, which is almost exactly the amount spent in Indian
elections! When you consider the high purchasing power of
rupee as opposed to its low exchange value, our real expenditures
is about five to six times that in the US. Yet, our income
per capita is nearly one-eightieth (1/80) of that in the
US. Adjusting for our higher population, and relative to
per capita income, our per capita election expenditure is
several times (about 20 times in purchasing power terms
and 100 times in absolute terms) that in the US! But with
two crucial differences in the U.S every dime and dollar
collected and spent are fully disclosed and accounted for,
and over 70% of the expenditure is on the television advertising.
In India there is no disclosure, and most expenditure is
for illegal purposes. And yet, there is enormous concern
in the US about the fund collection efforts, likely corruption,
the link between campaign contribution and governmental
decision making and patronage, and so on. But in India,
the media and the establishment take each expose of the
Tehelka.com type as another juicy scandal to bring excitement
to our drab lives or presage change of players in the game
of power.
The
high and illegitimate election expenditure inevitably lead
to massive corruption at every level and in every sector.
Corruption in defence deals is obviously more dramatic because
of the centralized decision making, and the emotions roused
on account of national security implications. But every
one with a modicum of understanding of our politics knows
that even minor parties collect and spend tens of cores
of rupees. Powerful regional parties in major States spend
about Rs.300 - 400 crore in a general election, and national
parties and their candidates spend probably Rs.2000 - 3000
crore in all elections over a five-year period. The money
raked in through collusion and extortion is astronomical.
The actual corruption is a hundred fold to satisfy the greed
of politicians and bureaucrats and to cover the political
and legal risks.
It
is time the political establishment converted this scandal
and crisis into an opportunity. All parties should honestly
introspect and use the opportunity to comprehensively reform
our electoral system. Accessible and fair voter registration
process, elimination of polling malpractices, decriminalization
of politics, transparent and accountable campaign finance
with full disclosure and severe penalties for noncompliance,
creation of opportunities for raising funds for legitimate
expenditure, and political party reform to enforce internal
democracy and transparency should be the cornerstones of
any such electoral reform. But we should not stop at that.
The first-past-the-post (FPTP) system of elections we adopted
is guaranteed to enhance electoral corruption in a poor
country like ours. We should switch over to proportional
representation (PR) with a reasonable threshold levels of,
say 10% valid vote in a major State for parties to be eligible
for representation. We can combine this PR model with FPTP
to get the benefits of both systems. We need to reexamine
the cabinet system in States. While the parliamentary executive
model is ideal in a plural society at the national level,
in States there is no logic or rationale not to separate
the legislature from the executive. A directly elected executive
accountable to State Assembly as in Israel, or with clear
separation of powers as in US, will significantly reduce
corruption levels. We need to consider such an improvement
in States and local governments. We also need a properly
designed right to information law. The NDA government bill
is very defective and needs substantial improvement. Finally,
we need to reform our judiciary to make speedy, accessible
and efficient justice a reality.
The
prime minister and leader of opposition owe it to the country
to respond to this challenge and work hard to enhance the
legitimacy of the political system. Instead, if we continue
with our political games as usual, it will be a real national
tragedy. A priceless opportunity would have been once again
squandered, and the nation will sink deeper into crisis
of legitimacy and governance. What we need today is courageous
and far-sighted leadership from all parties.
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