DailyPost 1773
INTRA-PARTY DEMOCRACY!
The moot question is whether intra-party democracy and the fanning out of democracy across the nation, since independence are interconnected? How many of us believe that there is intra-party democracy in this country? Is there any scope of difference of opinion in any political party? How is the difference of opinion viewed and dealt with in a political party? With an iron hand is the answer, even in the newest baby on the political firmament. When do words like discipline and conduct come into the picture in the deliberations of a political party? We need to fast forward the events within political parties for the last few decades and we can be enlightened in the manner our parties view conduct and discipline and for what purpose.
How can there be such a perfect unison of thought of so many functionaries at all levels, in a political party, across a wide variety of topics, impacting them in different ways? This is the magic of a political party in the most vibrant democracy of the world. If the same person moves on to a different party, he starts singing a different tune. The tune of democracy seems, to have not impacted the tune of any political party, supposedly the real fulcrum of any democracy. The word High Command has been in vogue, in a variety of ways, in different political parties, all throughout their existence. This speaks volumes of the intra-party democracy.
There are parties which barely have internal elections and if they happen, they throw up only the expected people. Who will ensure free, fair and transparent intra-party elections? It would not be futile, if the Election Commission takes over the task of conducting internal elections of the political parties. We also need periodical and systematic Political Party Audit, so that the party runs the way it is democratically mandated. The political party is a constitutional organization in a way and that too the most important, so it is imperative that supervision and monitoring needs to be done by a constitutional body, may it be the election commission; a separate wing of it, can be assigned this super serious task.
The parties running like fiefdoms cannot deliver a healthy, progressive and vibrant democracy. Democratic dynasties are another anathema. There are families where most of the members are in one political party, many among them are elected representatives. The worst manifestation of lack of intra-party democracy, which impacts the country at large, is that the government becomes the sole prerogative of one political party. In reality everyone should have equal access to every functionary of the political executive. In the truest democratic sense, the government has no party. How many times the leader of a legislature party is decided on a democratic vote cast and counted? This way of electing leaders to head governments might be, never gained ground. CMs not being able to decide their own cabinets has been going on for a long time, is another manifestation of the same malaise. But we need cooperative federalism too.
MAKING INTRA-PARTY DEMOCRACY ROBUST, BY CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE, WILL DIRECTLY IMPACT THE QUALITY AND HEALTH OF OUR DEMOCRACY.
Sanjay Sahay