Democracy In a multi party system Tomazinho Cardozo Democracy is the best form of governance because it is the people who posses the power of deciding who their rulers should be. A genuine democracy, therefore, is an active and progressive force responsive to the will of the people. Accordingly, the successful working of democracy will depend on the intelligence, interest and civic sense of its citizens. Is it, therefore, possible to create such citizens in a thickly populated and a semi-literate country like India? Is it not atleast possible to have genuine democracy in a small state like Goa in which the population is low and the literacy rate very high?
In our daily lives, we have the habit of blaming politicians for anything and everything, good or bad, that takes place in our society. Democracy and democratically-run governments can be a boon for the development of the society provided each and every citizen acquires a high degree of civic sense. This requires self-control and devotion to any common cause. People should be prepared to sink minor differences and co-operate for the general good of the society. In other words a give-and-take attitude will go a long way in establishing an ideal democracy. The multi-party democratic system followed in our country is yet another disadvantage to impose the will of the majority. When there are more than two political parties, it becomes difficult to get more than 50% votes in an election. As the votes are distributed among numerous parties, all parties poll less than 50% of votes and are able to form the Government. In fact, a democratically elected government should have been a government elected by a majority of the people. This does not happen in our country and we, in the name of democracy, are ruled by a government elected by a minority. The present trend of coalition governments is still worse. We have discussed this earlier and hence I would not like to comment on it again. I think our democracy can be an example to others if our political leaders, leaving aside all their selfish interests, are courageous enough to turn to a two party system. I will not hesitate to say that the present democratic form in our country encourages communalism. The irony of the situation is that even the political parties swearing in the name of secularism field a Hindu candidate in a constituency dominated by Hindus, a Muslim candidate in a constituency dominated by Muslims, a Christian candidate in a constituency having a majority of Christians, so on and so forth. These being the facts, in what way are our leaders promoting secularism? The system also indirectly advocates the evils of caste and creed in our society. Otherwise how can one explain the concept of fielding candidates from the Bhandari community, the Saraswat community, etc. etc. in the constituencies having a sizeable population of these communities? Organization of elections is the first step for the formation of the democratic government. It is unfortunate to observe that the process of elections, the very foundation of our democratic set up, is corrupted with communalism and casteism. In the present times politicians have the tendency to make politics a gainful profession. Gone are the days when politics was pure social service. Extravagant expenditure in the day to day administration, including the facilities to the legislators, has become a way of political living. Can a poor country like India afford these luxuries? Interference of elected representatives in each and every aspect of administration has rendered the bureaucracy practically ineffective. Many a time laws are bent as per the wishes of the elected representatives to suit their vested interests. Party organizations exercise undue influence on the government and create lot of tensions in various communities in our country. This is what todays democracy contributes to the development of our society. The concept of democracy is good. It is an ideal system of governance. But instead of using it for the betterment of the people it is being misused for self development. It is not easy to remedy the situation. Even the developed countries have not achieved that much maturity in politics. But a beginning has to be made somewhere. The major question is whether we are electing the right people for the right posts. The candid answer is no. This is because of our party affiliations. We vote for the party without considering the character of the person for whom we vote. This trend has to be changed. Past services to the society and the character of the candidate should be the prime factor to be considered before casting our precious vote. Then only honest and sincere people will be at the helm of affairs. And this is in the hands of the citizens the voters. Shall we be in a position to see in our life time the enlightened citizens of our country voting for the individuals instead of for a party? Can we make a beginning in this type of thinking in our state of Goa which has all the required ingredients to be an ideal state in our country?
