**Aw establishing and maintaining a fair and just society, a properly functioning democratic system must be guarded and protected. This needs a free and fair electoral system. In protecting and maintaining such a system, all well meaning and uncorrupt people and ordinary citizens have a great responsibility:***

DEMOCRACY has been facing difficulties in many countries especially in South Asian sub-continent. From the last Thursday's election outcome in Britain the disheartened and down-and-out democrats all over the world have some comforts to take. One can perhaps say a lot more. The landslide victory of the Labour over the Conservatives has profound lessons for the democrats, pseudo-democrats and anti-democrats alike. In the first place, without resorting to violence, bloodshed, intimidation, electoral manipulation, false voting, or vote purchasing (whether with white, black or drug money), voters have been able to achieve what was considered unthinkable until a few years ago. After 18 years of continuous rule, voters have been able to throw out one party and place another in power according to their own free choice. This is the only decent and civilised way of changing the government that humanity has discovered so far.

People's Power in Democracy

The second lesson is that people's power prevails in the long run through democratic system if it is preserved, protected and allowed to function properly. Even if democracy is not allowed, it prevails through bloodshed and untold human sufferings which history has borne out. However, in the British situation this time, apart from huge unemployment (which is there all over Europe for decades now), there were all kinds of open and implicit charges of corruption, inefficiency. indecision and in-fights among the Tories which have been swept away overnight like • in a devastating storm or earthquake by ordinary citizens' simple voting power. If money could buy the votes, no one could have removed the Tories because they are the ones who represent the richest segment of the society. Huge concentration of wealth and money became powerless against the simple voting power of the common folks.

In a broader perspective, taking into account the history of both the developed and the less developed countries, one can legitimately say that this is the way democracy vests ordinary citizens with the bludgeoning power to bury the financial tycoons, fascist dictators, gun-toters, muscle welders and social scums into the heap of dusts based on the simple prin-, cipje of one-man one-vote. In * the" history of this country since .

1947, power-hungry and corrupt politicians. autocrats and military dictators have been disgracefully overthrown and have been buried in the junkyard of history. No sensible historians can dust them down and present them as clean and respectable leaders and patriots. They are Just litters of history. Ordinary people have won and they have lost out. Thejesson to be drawn from these annals is that democracy is. therefore, the worst enemy of all such cat-\ egorles of people of any society.

rich or poor and east or west. But people will have to be vigilant against any tyranny and

elector al machinations of such kinds of people especially those who try to cling on to power by using force of one kind or another.

Dignified Entry and Exit

In the third place, in a properly functioning democratic system, when the voters' choice is revealed through the electoral outcome, the winner enters into, and the loser exits from, the office without any rancour or bitterness against each other. At this moment, the loser congratulates the winner and the winner compliments the loser in a decent and sportsman like spirit. Sheer decency requires that both sides accept the verdict of the Election Commission, who are supposed to be strictly neutral, and assume their respective roles in parliament in a constructive manner. Further, the opposition gives the incoming government a period of three months, known as democratic honeymoon, to comfortably settle down in power and begin to run the administration. It is after this period that the opposition begins to critically examine and censure, if necessary, the activities of the government for the benefit of the country and for the enlightenment of

the citizens about the government performances. It is the duty of the opposition and it owes it to the country.

Need for Democratic

Values

But. unfortunately, the political culture that has developed in this country is one of militant rejection of outcome of the election, raising all kinds of allegations about (subtle or •crude) vote rigging may be with or without evidence, and vehemently opposing the government from the first day of its assuming power. Decency, decorum. tolerance and dignified behaviour in and out of parliament which are the hallmarks of democracy, are totally ignored. These traits of behaviour have become common with the leaderships of both the major parties since the . election of 1991 which was acclaimed, by and large, as fair by all national and international oj?-, servers. So was the election of 1996. All copipjaipis should , have been lodged formally in the appropriate court for Judgement.

However, such behaviour seems to reflect inherent mistrust, belligerency and deep-seated hatred of one party against the other. Since all externalized actions of a person is a reflection of one’s attitude which springs from one's values, the actions of leaders of both the major parties are springing from undemocratic values. If the leaderships of these parties are interested in providing a less confrontational and unstable political

environment in the country which is essential for economic development, they will have to cultivate and practice the basic democratic values of tolerance, acceptability of people s verdict, mutual trust, moderation in the use of their language and behaviour. and the sense of cooperation between the government and the opposition in running the parliament and the administration. Further, the leaders will have to be truthful to what they say and say what they mean. Any gulf between the two will only destroy peo-Sie's trust in them which will ave terrible consequences on the functioning of a vibrant democracy. Anything that was considered wrong and loathed (e.g.. Special Powers Act) while in opposition cannot be right while in position and vice versa. Doing this will destroy the integrity of the leaders' commitments to various national issues.

Similarly, anything that was right while in power (eg. eternal flame) cannot be wrong (e.g. "fire worship") while in opposition. To assert it to be so would mean Irresponsible utterance unbecoming of leaders. So is the case with the electoral pledges. If parties promised

something before the election, they should implement it once they are in power; if, however, after new information and knowledge, they find it genuinely unfeasible, then they should explain it and apologise to the people for their earlier position. Otherwise, voters will lose confidence in political leaders as well as in the whole electoral process to the detriment of the democratic system. One party's activists and gun-toters cannot be left loose while other party's activists and gun-toters are caught and penalised. Arresting leaders or workers of the opposition without valid charges or shooting at the supporters of opposition in or out of public meetings will show the party in power to be vindictive which will destroy the integrity and neutrality of the operation of laws of the land. This will weaken the legal system and will establish the party in power as oppressive party. It may promote . militant, .confrontations between parties to the detriment of democracy and the entire socio-economic fabric of the country. If this happens. then all the talks of development, poverty alleviation and encouragement to foreign direct investment will sound hollow and hypocritical.

The party in power has a special responsibility in getting the support of the opposition on some vital national issues. A hateful and belligerent attitude to the opposition will not be conducive to getting such critical support. At the same time, the opposition has to behave as an alternative future

government with dignity and responsibility and cannot call upon the civil servants to defy legally established government's orders. Both parties must come to an agreement about keeping the civil administration above partisan politics and punish those who take part in partisan politics while in the civil administration. Otherwise. no government will be able to function properly in future. Civil service rules must be implemented irrespective of partypositions.

"Scoundrels" and

"Rascals" in Politics

It was George Bernard Shaw who said that politics is the refuge of scoundrels, and The Economist. April 26-May 2. 1997, has observed that election kicks out one set of rascals to give opportunities to another set. This writer however takes a somewhat different view of politics and politicians. Politics no doubt attracts scoundrels and rascals who have no scruples in aggrandising their vulgar self-interests at the expense of the national interests, but it also attracts many idealists and honest people because they realise that it is through political decisions at the highest level that many urgently needed changes in the society can be brought about for the welfare of ordinary citizens of the country. The constantly changing socio-political and economic conditions of a society need reforms which have to be brought about at the highest political level.

However, the bottomline of all that has been said above is that for establishing and maintaining a fair and just society, a properly functioning democratic system must be guarded and protected. This needs a free and fair electoral system. In protecting and maintaining such a system, all well meaning and uncorrupt people and ordinary citizens have a great responsibility: They should be supporting the good and sincere people in all parties and oppose, if possible socially boycott, the corrupt and the "rascals" in politics and everywhere, and maintain a constant vigilance on the actions of both the government and the opposition parties by making them accountable for all their actions and statements on all platforms — public and private. Combat in peaceful manner all terrorism, violence, illegalities and political manipulations especially on electoral system. That way. a new sense of awareness and vigilance can be promoted among the ordinary citizens and a sense of accountability among the politicians.

People's power will have to be restored, promoted and protected. Ordinary people have been fooled for too long by those who could wield power of one kind or another and let not anyone fool them any more. Let the corrupt people be in social disgrace permanently and the good ones, wherever they are, come to play the constructive roles in all spheres of the society. Let politics be clean and fair first, then the cleansing of dirt and filth from every other walks of life will follow automatically.