If these principles were followed we would have been a shining example of democracy. But alas!
Bernice Pereira Sent from my iPhone > On 26-Feb-2021, at 3:15 AM, Aires Rodrigues <[email protected]> wrote: > > Our India may be known as the world’s largest democracy but we need to have > urgent and radical electoral reforms to bring the system in line with the > changing times. > > As Politics is no longer a mission but has become a profession, it must > have a retirement age mandated by law just like other professions. Persons > should also be restricted from holding office to the same elected position > for a maximum of two terms. This would enable fresh faces to be infused > into the system. The law must also prescribe a mandatory educational > qualification for every elected position, may it be a MP, MLA, Corporator > or Panchayat member. > > We need to amend the law to ensure that political morality prevails. The > Anti-defection law came into force in 1985 to deter the endemic of > political defections by legislators who are motivated by the lure of office > and monetary gains. The intent of the law was to prevent corruption by way > of horse-trading and to debar defecting MPs and MLAs from holding public > office for five years and from contesting the next election if they defect. > > Goa may be India’s smallest State but has become a laboratory for every > possible political experiment and has shown the nation the ways and means > to circumvent the Anti- Defection law, with political prostitution and > party turncoats at its very hilt. So there is a need to legally plug those > loopholes in this now defective law. > > Ethics should always be an integral part of politics. Citizens demand > ethical behaviour from the political leadership. They trust their leaders > to make moral judgments of process and policy where transparency and zero > tolerance to corruption and nepotism should be paramount. > > Lawmakers have a fundamental and moral duty to lead by example and must > never be law breakers or abuse the trust that people have vested in them. > Authentic Leadership can only be practiced through ethical Governance. > > Not to defeat the very intent of the law, there is a need to ensure that > election petitions and more particularly those relating to the Anti- > Defection law should be decided very expeditiously in a time bound manner > by an independent authority possibly the Courts and not by the Speaker of > the Lok Sabha or Legislative Assemblies who instead of being fair and > independent have proven to be acting as partisan tools of the ruling > party. We need to ensure that by law those elected are made accountable > for their deeds and misdeeds. > > The late American President, John F Kennedy declared ‘the basis of > effective Government is public confidence and that confidence is endangered > when ethical standards falter or appear to falter’. These wise words have > proved to be prophetically true of our nation currently lacking in > authentic leadership and good, effective Governance. > > Aires Rodrigues > > Advocate High Court > > C/G-2, Shopping Complex > > Ribandar Retreat, > > Ribandar – Goa – 403006 > > Mobile No: 9822684372 > > Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 > > Email: [email protected] > > Or > > [email protected] > > You can also reach me on > > Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues > > Twitter@rodrigues_aires > > > www.airesrodrigues.com
