If the FPtP system is abolished and a proportional system is adopted, the voters will vote based on the policies and programmes of the parties and the closed list of candidates rather than one candidate. The leaders can be forced to prepare the closed lists respecting the person's struggle
In the present period of crisis, where there is distrust, dissatisfaction and anger among the people regarding the country's politics, political institutions and leadership in state matters, questions are being raised about our election system. The roots of people's dissatisfaction may be different, but the main anger seems to be directed towards the person or group that controls the politics. Although some people try to attack the political system itself, the supremacy of the federal democratic republic does not give any alternative to the current one. The question arises: why are the expected results not coming even after adopting the most suitable system? Indications go to the people's representatives, who run the politics. It seems that the current electoral system is unable to select qualified and challenging people's representatives, essential for the desired practice of democracy.
The basis of democracy is the representation of the people, and it is the responsibility of the electoral system to provide expected, qualified and accurate representation.
Unfortunately, even top leaders and political workers in general are dissatisfied with the feebleness of public representation.
A fair number of debates and discussions about these shortcomings are being held, and in those discussions, many of them are blaming the proportional electoral system for all the flaws. Some people associate this problem with the number of people's representatives in the parliament, which seems ridiculous in the test of logic.
Some individuals aim to exploit these dissatisfactions in order to reverse the system that has arisen from the people's struggle. However, the desired solution lies in identifying the errors in the electoral system and ending them. So what are the problems that are seen during the election that undermine the quality of the election results? Caste, religion, money manipulation, power, vote contracting and the settings of different power centres to extract results according to their interests are the distortions in the current election system.
These distortions are not due to the system but to the character and mentality of our own society. Perhaps, our society is not suitable for the First Past the Post (FPtP) election system. In the current social situation, the influence of caste, religion, money, power and settings on voters cannot be eliminated by making some ritualistic rules.
Therefore, instead of the mixed electoral system that we have embraced, the best alternative would be a fully proportional electoral system without the FPtP electoral system.
In the FPTP election system, due to the manipulation of caste, religion, money, power and setting, the policies and programmes of the political parties moved forward during the election periods have become unimportant. Political activists who are committed, struggling and tend to work for the benefit of the people have been sidelined.
The ability to expend large amounts of money, the caste base and muscle power to manage settings have become real qualifications for candidacy in the elections. Secondly, these maladies of the FPTP election system have blocked the basic meaning and spirit of the proportional If the FPtP system is abolished and a proportional system is adopted, the voters will vote based on the policies and programmes of the parties and the closed list of candidates rather than one candidate.
The leaders can be forced to prepare the closed lists respecting the person's struggle election system from blooming. From the very beginning, it was used as a tool to increase the numerical strength of the leaders of the respective political parties in the parliament and to install their relatives, family members or moneylenders instead of genuine workers, promoting nepotism and condescension.
However, this is not its real specialty.
As long as the FPtP system remains in the current mixed election system, the evil influence of caste, money, power and settings cannot be removed. Voters' attention will not be seriously drawn towards the policies and programmes of political parties. For this purpose, an absolute increase in the level of awareness among the voters and a radical change in the mentality of voters towards elections would be needed, which does not seem to be possible in a couple of decades.
If the FPtP system is abolished and a proportional system is adopted, the voters will vote based on the policies and programmes of the parties and the closed list of candidates rather than one candidate.
The leaders of the political parties can be forced to prepare the closed lists keeping in mind the candidate's struggle, continuity, ability and public support instead of kinship, family or financial gain. Naturally, genuine workers from all political parties will benefit, and the country will be able to get good, capable and promising representatives.
The expenses incurred by the Election Commission and the parties during the elections will be drastically reduced, and the country will be able to carry out the election process with its own resources.
In order to make the full proportional election system more inclusive, it would be more appropriate to accept the provinces as constituencies and the closed lists at each provincial level for the election of the House of Representatives, too. This will be a step towards recognising the regional political parties carrying the policies and programs of regional prosperity.
This will be in accordance with the purpose and spirit of the federal structure of the country.
The demand for a full proportional election system is not new. Political parties and organisations from Terai-Madhesh and indigenous people have been demanding it since the very beginning. The inclusive parliament elected by the full proportional system will have a credible possibility of becoming a platform for national consensus and the development of the entire country.
Such a leap will create a nation of diversity and strengthen national unity.
Lal is president, Tarai Madhesh Loktantrik Party
