Democratising Majority Rule

Photo courtesy NewsIn.Asia

SOMAPALA GUNADHEERA on 12/08/2016

Sri Lanka has been exposed to veiled despotic and corrupt rule for
some time. The malady persisted through the last regime and the
people joined hands, two years back hopefully, to usher in a new
era of liberty and good governance. Though the stress appears to
have been noticeably reduced by more liberal policies and
attitudes of the new regime, the root causes behind the problems
continue to demonize governance.

The symptoms
One hot topic that is under focus today is the delay in disposing of
the criminal and corruption charges levelled against the members
of the last regime, whose displacement was largely due to such
allegations. Though the new dispensation came to power
promising to take the wrongdoers to task on the charges levelled
against them, people are getting dismayed and dejected by the
seemingly lethargic manner in which the victors are getting about
to honour their promise to vindicate the wrongs of the past. In the
meantime, similar allegations are cropping up against members
of the new regime. The Bond Scam is a typical example. Of
course, many institutions have been set up to deal with these
complaints. In addition to traditional sources like the Police, the
Attorney Generals Department and the Bribery Commission, new
structures like a Presidential Commission and the FCID have been
put in place to meet the demand. Nevertheless nothing concrete
appears to have been achieved so far.
Those in power blame the system and the officialdom for this
clumsiness. They forget that both the system and the
administration are placed under their power and it is their primary
duty to put them right. They cannot wash their hands off by
saying that they had referred matters to their officials for action.
Such evasion accrues primarily to their discredit. The cause for
this incapacity would appear to lie elsewhere. The predilection of
the rulers to palaver their supporters also stems from the same
root cause. That is what makes them to assuage their team with
perks and privileges like titles, pay increases, vehicles and
additional allowances in an economy where the average citizen
finds it difficult to make both ends meet. The tendency to
overlook the wrongs of their henchmen is also attributable to the
same source.

The root cause

That root cause behind such erratic governance is the craving of
the leaders to capture and remain in power. Each side tries to be
one up on the other by competitively mollycoddling those who get
elected to Parliament in order to win them over to achieve that
end. The latest extension of this predilection was seen in the
current rulers use of their power to make MPs out of those who
lost at the last election. These seemingly ridiculous decisions are
rationalized vociferously but the fact remains that leaders in
politics would not hesitate to make Democracy stand on its head
in their professed endeavour to create democratic institutions, if
only the net result could sustain them or upload them in power.
Coming to think of it, one cannot blame the leaders summarily for
this seeming transgression. In the ultimate analysis, it is a natural
by-product of the lofty democratic principle of majority rule.
To become the Head of a Government, a political leader needs to
have a majority in Parliament on his/her side. No problem arises
where an election produces a clear majority. The rat race begins
when an election ends in a stalemate, leaving the contestants in a
situation in which they have to bargain against their rivals to
attain power. Barring rare exceptions, an average politician placed
in such a predicament would naturally agree to seemingly
irrational and nationally detrimental proposals, if such agreement
would place him/her in power. The most effective chip that crops
up in such a situation is ministerial office.
Power as bargaining chip
Logically the number of ministries required to run a country
efficiently, can be determined by research and statistical analysis.
But such logic falls by the wayside where the number of ministries

has to be determined on the demand of bargain-hunters in

preference to the demand of logic. That is exactly what happened
at the end of the last election. One of the specific promises of
those who dislodged the Government in power was to compress
the seemingly innumerable existing ministries to a specific
number. The victors kept their promise through the
19th Amendment passed by Parliament within six months of their
coming to power. But as if by intuition, they had left in the same
Amendment a loophole that enabled exceeding that limit, without
a limit, in the event of forming a coalition Government. Though it
is hard to understand how forming a coalition inflated the normal
workload by itself, the visionary provision of the new-comers
accrued to their advantage at the succeeding general election,
when they were one up on their predecessors in the number of
ministries created.
But blame cannot be placed personally on the leaders who
apparently acted inconsistently. In the future too, placed in a
similar situation, their successors would act in a similar manner
unless steps are taken conceptually to remove the factors that
attract bargain-hunters. Demystifying the halo of a minister takes
the first priority in this venture. A quick fix to that problem would
be to replace the magic word Minister. But that is more easily
said than done. The word has got so much ingrained in the public
conscience, that no amount of logic can dislodge it.
The remedy
The alternative is to diffuse the glory of the title with initiatives
that reduce the wide status gap that now exists between a
minister and an ordinary MP. The most effective move in this
direction is to equalize the pay of all members irrespective of their
allegiance to the party in power. Additional allowances may be
paid in line with special services they render as minister, deputy

minister, leader of opposition, member of standing committee

etc. This step would automatically shift the status approach to a
utility base. Similarly status symbols like vehicles, security and
facilities should be tailored to real demand and distributed evenly,
without conspicuous concentration on favoured posts or
discrimination against contributors from the opposition.
The proposal to reintroduce the executive committee system of
colonial days would go a long way to rationalize the functions of
Parliament while transforming the adversarial gap between
Government and Opposition to a cooperative link. The recent
appointment of a member of the opposition as chairman of COPE
was a trail-blazing exercise in this direction. It is only the other
day that the minister of agriculture invited the organizer of the
opposition to be his consultant. Though that request may have
been made in a lighter vein, the proposal pinpoints a functional
approach to the work of Parliament as opposed to confrontation.
At the same time, such delegations break down the habitual
adversarial attitude between the two sides and create one of
comradery, as was noticed after the above appointment of a JVP
member as chairman of COPE. Frictions and invectives that now
beset Parliamentary debates stem mostly from the exclusion of
opposition members from the executive proses. Giving them a
meaningful role to play should involve them positively in the
Parliamentary system. At least the executive committee gave
them a ringside view of governance that gave them a sense of
belonging.
Where a Party obtains a clear majority, its leader automatically
becomes PM and things move smoothly on the set path. Problems
arise where there is no such clear mandate. That is where the
horse deals begin distorting the basic values of Democracy. The
executive committee system can play a meaningful role when an
election ends up with a hung Parliament. As at present,
negotiations to win over members of other Parties are conducted

on an ad hominem basis, placing the bargaining in the hands of

individuals. But if that selection is left to the Executive
Committees, the choice would become not only broad-based but
also collective as each Committee would consist of members of all
Parties. Horse deals could have very limited space in such a
collective process. Incidentally, the method comes close to the
time-honoured US system that has helped to maintain balance of
power for centuries.
Regulating the election process
Another aspect that has been neglected so far in the election
process is the control of participants at an election. Although lofty
ideals like limiting of election expenses and avoidance of undue
influence have been written into the Election Ordinance to avoid
foul play at an election, they have been observed in the breach
more often than not. The reason for this failure lies not only in the
legal provisions concerned but also in the limitations associated
with a government department implementing them. Now that a
Commission has taken over the supervisory function, one can look
forward to a cleaner atmosphere in future elections. To ensure
such outcome the Commission bears the bounden duty of
upgrading the law applicable to elections and running them
without fear or favour. Judging from the track record of the
present Chairman of the Commission, we can confidently look
forward to cleaner elections in future. The cleaner the election the
greater will be the honesty and propriety of those elected. In that
background the horse deals attributed to past elections would no
longer pollute the conduct of elected members.
Normally not much attention is paid to the selection of a
candidate for whom one casts a vote. It is dealt with as a matter
of course, in a very casual manner. The tendency is to accept the
known devil without bothering oneself to go into the merits of
the unknown angel. Some cast their votes under dictation by

trusted friends and superiors or for a fee. More often than not,
many voters decide their preferences at the spur of the moment
of voting. Such a lackadaisical attitude towards the casting of a
vote is mainly responsible for the quality of the legislators we
have been saddled with. In that sense, voters have no right to
complain against their representatives on their performance or
the lack of it. They only get the legislators they deserve. If each
voter makes a firm resolution to cast his vote to a candidate who
passes muster, majority rule will stand on a solid base.
Responsibility of the enlightened
Those who are most suitable to seek election fight shy of coming
forward to contest. They are dissuaded by the notoriety attached
to the position by the misbehaviour and corruption of many
misfits who have got themselves elected in the past with bribery
and undue influence. What they fail to realize is that we have to
draw the line somewhere to end this sad impression, if we are to
make politics a gentlemens game someday. The duty to do so
falls squarely on the intelligent, the educated and the
respectable. Though such citizens openly express their
dissatisfaction over the quality of people who get elected and the
loop holes in the election law that make such deviations possible,
they fight sigh of entering the fray themselves.
Of late, intellectuals and opinion-leaders have added their weight
to the task of educating the masses. The National Movement for
Social Justice headed by Reverend Maduluvave Sobhitha made a
significant contribution towards the change of government at the
last election. His discourses had a tremendous impact on the final
outcome of the election. The Theras followers are continuing his
campaign but its impact has dwindled after his demise.

The need of the hour is to add strength to the elbow of the NMSJ.
There are several other organizations that have evinced an
interest in election reform. The UTA, UTHR, BASL, GMOA and the
OPA are some of the professional associations that are working
towards the same end, not to mention NGOs like CaFFE, CMEV
and CPA. Unfortunately the work of these activists is disjointed
and sporadic. The greatest need of the hour is to coordinate their
work into an umbrella organization that could help effectively to
democratize the election process. That ideal will remain a pious
hope until someone takes the lead to put it into operation.
Sobhitha Theras NMSJ is the most suitable to fill this role in the
light of their unique intervention and success. It is earnestly
hoped that the above civic minded organization would lose no
time in setting up the mechanism to streamline the election
process. The cited organizations and others of the same calibre,
are sure to be an effective guiding light on the ongoing
constitution building process.
A third force
Ever since independence, governmental power has crisscrossed
between the UNP and its offshoot the SLFP. The JVPs attempt to
become the third force failed unfortunately, not because of their
policies but because of their methods. The original leaders
mindless effort to imitate the methods of the Khmer Rouge
distanced the party from the masses. Although their followers are
making an honest and selfless effort to win over the electorate,
judging from election results, their efforts have not made much
headway. The prejudices created by their forerunners appear to
die hard. JVPs dilemma creates space for a new political Party,
upholding nationalist and progressive policies. Although the
intelligentsia may not choose to enter the political arena
themselves, they have the potential to guide their students, trade
unions, followers and others who come under their influence into

a new political force devoid of the fault lines that are alienating
the electorate from the fossilized and stagnant traditional Parties.
Creating a political party from scratch is an uphill task. It is
doubtful whether the goodwill and guidance of the above
mentioned Godfathers would be equal to the machinations of the
old power blocks who are sure to fight hard to remain in power.
Judging from the ongoing frictions and outcries within the
traditional Parties, I have a gut feeling that the enlightened and
progressive members of both blocks would come together at the
next election to challenge the forces that are getting outdated
fast. They should succeed in their endeavour with the blessings of
the umbrella organization of Godfathers.
Posted by Thavam