Political responsibility and public morality By Nisser Dias nisserdias at gmail.com SMS to 9422437029
Former Tourism minister’s alleged involvement in the death of 28 year old girl from Lotoulim, has thrown up questions of public morality of the political morality and the role of the electorate. The question that is staring in our face today is why do we keep on casting our sacred ballot in favour of politicians who have a shady past, unscrupulous and characterless? Is the voter alone to be blamed for the mess we find ourselves in? Should it not be the responsibility of the political parties to screen their candidates instead of allotting party tickets for elections? Can the chief minister shrug off his responsibility for selecting ministers of questionable character?
In Goa, we have reached the cross roads before us are not many. It is either the devil or the deep blue sea. Most of the time we either vote for a party candidate or independent and more often than not the elected candidate lets the electorate down. We have a set of legislators and also parliamentarians, who at some point of time have been involved in sex scandals, various scams and corruption. Can we forget the Miramar sex scandal, where names of some current ministers, DySP and even government advocate? Don’t we know that a minister demands sexual favours for employment in government service, do we need to remind ourselves of a parliamentarian who did all his secretarial work at night. Don’t we know of two ministers in the present dispensation who traveled to South Africa to seek company of black women? The list can go on and on, but our political parties be it national or regional they will allot or rather sell their tickets to these characterless individuals and then blame the electorate for getting the elected. To rub salt into the wounds the top honchos in the political parties have the cheek to preach, “You get the government you elect”. What the political parties are telling us is that they are not morally responsible for their candidates, but the voter is expected to exhibit moral turpitude when casting his or her ballot. This approach reeks of double standards.
Take the example of the fugitive former Tourism minister Mickky Pacheco, Education minister Babush Monserrate made their entry into politics on a regional party, when national parties had rejected their candidature. The top brass in the regional party canvassed for them, extolling their virtues before the electorate, but today these same individuals are pointing fingers at the voter for electing them. Should these same individuals be allowed to set the standard of morals for others when they lack it completely?
Let us reflect on of our legislators. Dayanand Narvekar was accused of molesting a girl in his official chamber when he was a speaker and had to resign. The election that followed Congress party again allotted him the ticket, but was defeated by the voters. Thereafter and till now Congress party has been allotting him a ticket and the voters too have returned him to the assembly and every chief minister that followed, appointed him as the minister. Even after his sex scandal he was involved in the One Day International cricket match ticket scam, but chief minister Digambar Kamat chose him in his cabinet only to drop him a year and half back to accommodate Atanasio Babush Monserrate.
Cases of extortion and money lending were registered against Monserrate even before he was elected as a MLA. Despite of his criminal background, United Goan Democratic Party, one of Goa’s regional parties allotted him the ticket to contest his first election and emerged victorious. The then chief minister Manohar Parrikar roped him in to support his coalition government and secured him a cabinet berth. Subsequently Babush filed his nomination papers as Congress candidate but ditched the party at the eleventh hour and filed another set of papers and contested and won as UGDP candidate. During the last three of Digambar Kamat government, Monserrate led a mob of his constituents and stoned the Panjim police station thereby injuring many policemen and women, his son stands charged of raping a minor German girl and Babush himself stands charged of attempt to murder, but the chief minister admitted him in the cabinet.
Mickky Pacheco was charged with rape in the 90s, thereafter in 2000 he was charged, tried and acquitted in a shack burning case, so for this law maker being on the wrong side of law is nothing new, but inspite of it UGDP allotted him a party ticket to contest the first election and the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar inducted him in the cabinet. Subsequently Mickky joined NCP and contested on its ticket. His success in election was rewarded by chief minister Digmabar Kamat by appointing him as Tourism minister knowing very well his criminal record.
Churchill Alemao and Joaquim Alemao were charged for smuggling case and were later acquitted. They were also incarcerated for some time under FERA under Ravi Naik government, but they contested and won on UGDP ticket, subsequently on Congress ticket and were also made ministers by different chief ministers.
Former Power minister Mauvin Godinho has cases against him in the power subsidy scam, but the Congress party does not fail to allot him a ticket and this time round chief minister has appointed him as deputy speaker.
Former chief minister, presently south Goa Member of Parliament Francisco Sardinha is said to be a lady’s man, during his first tenure as MLA he was inducted as Education minister and allegedly got involved in a mark’s scandal, but that did not stop the Congress party from repeatedly allotting him the party ticket either for Assembly or Parliament elections, nor has successive chief ministers refrained from appointing his as a minister.
These are just some of the examples, every one of our forty MLAs will have some skeletons or the other stashed in their closets, thus it is not enough to say, that because of the electorate we have to suffer immoral politicians. The political parties cannot absolve themselves by saying that winnability is what matters to us and not the character. Furthermore, the deserving candidate criteria no longer exist for political parties – national or regional, the criteria that is followed today is, ‘ticket will be sold to the highest bidder’. National political parties have done it and now even the regional parties do it.
Thus how can leaders of political parties take the moral high ground and blame only the electorate for all the ills when they themselves have introduced immoral candidates to politics. (ENDS)
====================================================== First published in Gomantak Times, Goa - June 17, 2010
