[Vnbiz] Running for National Parliament (formerly: Tet and unbelievable ...)

[Rajakumar sankar]

Dear Tram Dang,

Here is a small write up I am sending which was circulated for
training civil society organisations on Election monitoring,

India with its social,political, cultural and economic dimension may
be different from Vietnam. Hence I feel the issues may be different
from the contest of election.

But  if you have any further questions on how to use the election
monitoring and other intervention programs which we have tried for
making  election more fair and free from any biases. I will be happy
to answer more questions and share what ever i know on this .

Regards

Rajakumar


Right to be governed by elected representatives is a basic human right
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Representation of the
people will become meaningful only if free and fair elections are
ensured. In spite of elaborate legal provisions in the Constitution of
India, Representation of the People's Act 1951, Conduct Of Election
Rules 1961 etc and directions issued by the Election Commission of
India, malpractices in elections are increasing at an alarming pace.
Therefore the Civil Society Organization  have a significant role in
ensuring free and fair elections. Through civil society monitoring of
the election process, it is possible to detect unfair practices. Only
when unfair practices are detected can preventive measures be taken by
exposing them through the media and compelling the authorities to take
adequate legal action.

Political parties  making it impossible to prescribe laws for every
eventuality, are tampering with all institutions of governance.
Criminalisation of politics, caste- and religion-based propaganda,
corruption and lack of public accountability etc. pose the greatest
challenges to fair elections. Bribery, booth capturing, false
statements in the affidavit and excess expenditure over permitted
limits is some of the important violations of election laws. Those in
power use government employees and schoolteachers during elections.
Transfer of civil servants is one of the ways of misuse of
governmental powers. There is progressive deterioration in election
ethics.
Money power has become a major factor and the amount of money spent in
the campaigns is a matter of serious concern. A pernicious linkage to
corruption is the criminalisation of politics. Political parties need
money to fight elections and one way of getting it is through mafia
dons and criminals.

The President' of India's  assent to the Representation of the People
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2002, is a major setback to yet another
conscious attempt made by the Supreme Court and the Election
Commission to cleanse the system of the twin evils of corruption and
criminalisation of politics.

The judicial process is so cumbersome and time-consuming that even
after years of trial, it becomes difficult for the prosecution agency
to bring criminals to justice. The following four changes of laws were
suggested. First, the Election Commission or any other authority
should recognize no political party unless it is willing to maintain
audited accounts of all its receipts and expenditure. The greatest
source of corruption in public life is the total immunity of political
parties from accountability. All politicians should be subjected to
intensive income-tax scrutiny. Secondly, the need to introduce partial
proportional representation in the Lok Sabha. Thirdly, some minimum
qualifications should be prescribed for the candidates. And finally,
the right to recall.

These are some of the steps to be followed for doing election monitoring
·	Training for human rights defenders involved in election monitoring,
·	Formation of a legal cell,
·	Development of clear cut parameters of monitoring,
·	Launching of website for the dissemination of information,
·	Enlisting persons with integrity and credibility as independent
                observers,
·	Starting a helpline for immediate assistance
·	Conduct voter?s awareness programme wherever possible.

Regards

Rajakumar
On 3/6/07, Tram Dang <tdang2006 at gmail.com> wrote:
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