The Hindu Business Line : 'When politics is degraded to political adventurism'

EARLIER this week, the President of the republic, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, told an august gathering of politicians in the central hall of Parliament that the "dubious" pursuit of power was taking its toll on the nation's democratic system.

Elaborating, he said (as reported): "The arithmetical compulsions of incremental numbers and the alleged tradability of certain legislative seats, won perhaps through means allegedly dubious and undemocratic, have many a time created doubts about our democratic system in the public eye".

He added: "When politics degrades itself to political adventurism, the nation would be on the calamitous road to inevitable disaster and ruination. Let us not risk it".

On his part, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said: "We need to examine whether we are living up to the standards set by great parliamentarians of the early years of our Independence. It is for us to ensure that we set better standards for the future".

He further said that when people began to lose faith in the institution of Parliament, "this important edifice" would also come under pressure, adding, "We must not, we must never let this happen".

It is apparent that both the President and the Prime Minister are inordinately worried about the declining standards of politics in the country, so much so that both went out of their way publicly to exhort the parliamentarians present on the occasion — a ceremony to honour outstanding members of the House — to do some introspection and stop the rot from eating further into the entrails of the nation.

Indeed, the President referred to the frequent scenes of disruption in the House telecast to the country at large and reminded the gathering that "in every action of Parliament's members, our 540 million youths who are below 25 years of age should see in you great leaders who can be their role models".

Clearly, when personages like the President and the Prime Minister speak aloud on a subject like this (as Mr Kalam said: "I am sure I have your permission to speak some bare truths which we all know are a fact but would refuse to acknowledge."), the matter is extremely serious.

The second point is that the nation at large is well aware of what they were talking about because, in the final analysis, it is the people who always have to bear the brunt of the "misdeeds" of their representatives in the legislatures.

It is of course another matter that the representatives are sent to the legislatures by the electorate thereby bestowing on the former some sort of legitimacy.

Obviously, in a parliamentary democracy like ours, the remedy lies with the people themselves because, ultimately, it is in their power to decide on who to send to the House and who not to.

But when, despite this electoral sieve, the nation continues to see a decline in the standards of political morality and behaviour, it becomes clear that the problem is far more serious than it appears to be because, fundamentally, its core then becomes "faulty choice" of the electorate itself, which widens the canvas practically to cover the whole of national life itself.

Both the President and the Prime Minister have called for corrective action: The problem is, where does it begin?

An exhortation to politicians to mend their ways and set an acceptable example for the nation is all very good, but will it work specially in view of the fact that similar appeals made in the past have fallen on deaf ears?

Does the eligibility criteria for becoming a member of the legislature need to be changed? Perhaps it does, but who will produce the new architecture and, secondly, will Parliament approve of it?

The next 20 years could be crucial for the nation in that it could take the wrong turn if its politics is not cleansed.

And two decades could turn out to be a very short time indeed, if remedial steps are not initiated now.

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