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Goa Heritage Action Group releases PARMAL, the journal of the GHAG, on Apr 25, 2009 at 5.30 at Gallery Gitanjali, Fontainhas. Price Rs 200 in Goa. ........................................................................ Opinion Reflections "Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something"- Robert Heinlein GT Editorial Wednesday, April 22, 2009 WHY GOOD PEOPLE NEVER GET ELECTED? This is a question that foxes us almost everyday. When we cannot find answers we blame the process, the political party, the candidate and sometimes the electorate,. But time and again the people of India have given political pundits a brilliant display of their grasp of politics while casting their vote. Yet we ponder as to why good people never get elected. Part of the problem lies in the mistaken belief that well intentioned people make good leaders. Secondly, we make the erroneous assumption that politics is driven or should be driven by ethics alone. Thirdly, everybody has a different definition of 'good'. Fourthly, in this debate, the practical aspect of politics tends to be ignored and at times even questioned as undesirable. In Goa, of the many candidates in the fray are two dedicated and thoroughbred activists - Mathany Saldanha and Christopher Fonseca. They bear the stamp of consistency. Christopher Fonseca has been a trade union leader all his life. His commitment to the issues and problems faced by labour is unquestionable. Similarly, Matanhy Saldanha has been an activist all his life. He fought for the Ramponkaras, against the Konkan Railway and Meta Strips and now, protection of houses of fishermen is his main plank. Like Fonseca, Saldanha has an unblemished record as an activist. The fact is, Fonseca never got elected and Saldanha made it to the Assembly only once, which seemed more like an aberration in his innings in public life. On the other hand look at Churchill Alemao. He survived serious charges of smuggling and resurrected himself with the Konkan Railway agitation. He led the UGDP with three MLAs in the Assembly elections, defeated Eduardo Faleiro, returned to the Congress, resigned to form the Save Goa Front which he merged with the Congress to save the Digamber Kamat government and is now blowing hot and cold because his daughter did not get the Congress ticket for South Goa. His record on fighting issues is dismal and yet he is a force to reckon with in the political arena while Fonseca and Saldanha struggle to get past the post. Politics is the art in doing what is possible, not what is correct,. It is the art of gauging the interest of the people and then going with the flow even if it means compromising on one's personal ethics. Voters are not fools. They understand the personal cost of public life. Hence they do not expect their leaders to be paragons of virtue. What they want is that their voice be heard, not your own. If the voters are fickle, the politicians will follow suit. Only those with a thick skin or those who have buried their conscience deep enough can survive in this game. Take the classic example of the Cidade de Goa amendment. While activists and public-spirited people, whose numbers are not large enough to make a political difference, were vociferous in their protest against the amendment. In contract, a large number of people living along the coast turned logic on its head by using the amendment to demand special concessions for houses built in violation of CRZ rules. Politicians went with the larger group. Saldanha did not go with the fishermen because they were the larger group, but because the activist in him refused to abandon them. Why is it so difficult for well-intentioned men or women to convert goodwill into votes? In this respect it would be wise to examine the rise and fall of Goa Bachao Abhiyan. It started as a group of informed and committed people, with no political experience. The cause was well defined and the GBA is in tatters, a shadow of itself and a far cry from those heady days when its leaders could fill Azad Maidan or Lohia Chowk. Now contrast this with how Digamber Kamat pushed through a Regional Plan, scrapped SEZs, reshuffled his cabinet, took hold of the key finance portfolio, contained the Alemao threat (almost), took the tough decision to banish floating casinos from the Mandovi and yet retained his government for nearly two years. The lesson to be learnt is : to be a politician one must possess the art of managing interests, not ethics. Perhaps, this election will show us if Saldanha and Fonseca have made the jump from activist to politician. COMMENTS: I believe that there are no 'good' or 'bad' people. There are only 'good' or 'bad' intensions. We see a lot of good being done around us which is credited to 'good intensions'. And we see a monumental amount of 'bad' being done all around us partly because 'good' intensions were not applauded and commended enough and partly because 'bad' intensions were not challenged at source -- the 'Amkam Kiteak Podlam' syndrome. It is the tax payer's money, mine and yours which is being grossly mismanaged. And we have allowed this without even feeble protests thereby emboldening 'bad intensions'. People basically believe that 'activists' should remain activists. Qualifying them into politicians will blunt their sharp fighting edges. Christopher and Matanhy are examples of being excellent activists. But the moment they go to the people to qualify them as politicians, there is this 'no' 'no' business. If this is not true then we must analyze this factual example. Sebastian Rodrigues, the 'naxalite' branded anti-mining activist who is equally feared and hated by the mining lobbies and politicians alike. During the run up to the Pale (mining belt in North Goa) by-elections recently, I decided to put my above theory about activists not qualifying to be politicians to test by offering Sebastian Rodrigues the 'goasuraj' ticket to contest the Pale by-elections, he being the party's life member. He willingly accepted. But the people in the mining belts he is helping out through agitations and which agitations the mining lobbies, politicians and the police are trying to violently clamp-down upon felt jittery at the prospects of supporting him for the Assembly, telling/advising him that he was too young, that they will lose him etc etc, exactly what I had told Sebastian will happen. The 15th. Lok Sabha results on 16th. May, 2009 will probably prove me right once again vis a vis Christopher Fonseca and Matanhy Saldanha. The contrary, as with Churchill Alemao.. Mickey Pacheco et al is happening because this breed is capable of mobilizing a lot of money into the system towards becoming popular, whether it is hard-earned or extorted money hardly makes any difference. Not only the lower echelons of the people fall for it but also the highest, educated, ethically and morally sound, even the tormented. The saying that when the elephant walks, the ant better stand to the side and sing praises, if it does not want to get crushed to death, is true in this case. The editor cannot be faulted for saying what he has said, i.e. "Politics is the art in doing what is possible, not what is correct,. It is the art of gauging the interest of the people and then going with the flow even if it means compromising on one's personal ethics." If King Solomon had to follow this modern rule, ethics would have died a natural death a long time ago. But thankfully, King Solomon did not go for the DNA testing of the child in question when two mothers were claiming it to be their own, but ordered his soldier to cut the child into two halves and give each to the two dear mothers, thereby solving the problem. Ethics will always remain part and parcel of delivering 'good governance' and interests of the people will have to be addressed within the ethical ambit. In modern day politics the word 'YES' is directly linked to the 'vote' and therefore the word 'NO' has vanished from the political dictionary. The end users aka the people not understanding and/or respecting the role of 'ethics' in governance has invented the modern day 'political philosophy' of digging one's own grave where its occupancy is ensured sooner than later. As far as winning elections is concerned, it is an entire gamut of election engineering which cannot be waived even in the case if Jesus or Ram of Prophet Mohamed were to contest modern day elections for that matter. If the grass-root movement is missing, even these icons would lose elections miserably. The election engineering dictates that each and every polling booth in a constituency delivers the minimum average votes required for a positive overall results. Leaving it to the so called 'good candidate' to marshal this requirement on his own, even if the said candidate is a 'hallowed' one, will bring in humiliating results. Therefore, the need of the hour is the soundness of net-working by the end-users [voters] who want to derive maximum benefits to themselves through getting their candidate past the post. I have demonstrated this to the Aldonkars when I contested 2007 Assembly Elections from Aldona. "Imagin that I am standing on this beautiful, rupees 24 crores built, 6 crores worth, Corjuem Bridge", I had told them. "If I jump, I can easily swim to the distant Assembly Complex in Porvorim. But I have no wish of jumping on my own. Instead, I want you all to get behind me and push me and then leave me to do the rest". Sadly, there were no takers, in that, only 433 out of some 9000 plus required did line-up behind me. Probably the lack of the force to plunge me into the river saved me from the crocks below waiting for the treat J. I have come to realize that a good person can win elections lock stock and barrel over the perceived evil person. The good and the evil here cannot be the person or the candidate. It must be the 'system of governance' with which that person is connected with which is never concerned whether the person is good or evil except that he/she is willing to take it forward. Naturally, it goes without saying that the well defined and rigid system of this sort acts, by itself, like the insecticide spray were the vermin are kept at a distance, automatically. The proof of the pudding here must be in its eating where the pudding itself cannot be diluted or allowed to go bad. by individual cooks (read MLAs & MPs) of the party but must be consumed on as is where, do or die basis. If this is ensured, then even the evil person will fall in line and move along or opt out (which is 100 per cent) for not being able to manipulate the rigid system in operation. Goa Su-Raj has taken pains to put such a rigid system in place which will not be able to be manipulated even by the King of Hell, the Devil Himself. Therefore, one sees no lines building up to join its rank and file since the take-home stuff has been eliminated. And to discourage the riff-raff from approaching the entrance, a big board is on display announcing "NO POCKETS ALLOWED, PLEASE" Hopefully, for Goa's sake, there are sufficient number of people still around, who value ethics and possess sound moral values (something one has to search with a torch-light, nowadays) who will want to come out of the dark, stand-up and be counted. We, at goasuraj, believe that this day is not too far away, given the circumstances that the 'scum' has already reached the lower lip over the chin, having submerged the entire body, and that, it is only a short while before the nostrils will be engulfed to give the final 'coup de grace' for GOA and GOANS. Floriano Lobo, Gen. Secretary, Goa Su-Raj Party (m) 9890470896 -------------------------------------------------------------- ---Wanted for Goa--- honest ' fighters ' NOT honest ' hypocrites ' Contact: goasuraj (The Recruiting Agents) 9890470896 www.goasu-raj.org
