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Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660
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Leaders emphasise on need to overhaul electoral system
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Leaders of the political parties participating at the seminar
'Assembly by-elections: boon or bane' organised by the
Goa Union of Journalists came out with the observation
that the voters are basically dishonest and lacked ethics
while electing the candidates.
The leaders also emphasised on the need for changing the mindset
of the society as well as overhauling the electoral system to do away
with the ill-practice adopted by some of the sitting MLAs, of resigning
from the House and facing fresh by-elections for their own profit.
The president of the state unit of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP),
Dr Wilfred de Sousa, speaking on the occasion said that no Act,
even the Anti-Defection Act is perfect and it is the voters who make
the Acts work perfectly, further appealing to the voters to elect
good people who would enact good laws.
The Poinguinim by-election conducted last year was the beginning
of a new series of events, Dr de Sousa said, pointing out that when
hunger for power becomes the root of by-elections, the people,
the constituencies as well as the state suffer. He also suggested
that the parliamentarians should put their heads together to come out
with a solution for the trend of misusing the by-elections.
The spokesperson of the Congress party, Mr Shantaram Naik,
alleged that the sitting Poinguinim MLA, Mr Isidore Fernandes
was lured by the Bharatiya Janata Party, last year, by offering
him huge amount of money, which led to the by-election at Poinguinim,
setting a wrong precedence. "Such cases need to be inquired into
by the authorities," he demanded.
He also lamented that the voters have to face the forces who do not
respect the process of democratic elections and who want to say
good-bye to the polling exercise. Mr Naik however limited his
observations to a certain point as his party was fielding four candidates
for the June 2 by-polls, who had recently defected to Congress
by resigning from the membership of the House.
The working president of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party,
Dr Kashinath Jalmi suggested that certain amendments should be
made to the Constitution wherein the voters are provided with an
option to reject one, more than one or all candidates at the polls,
who would then face a ban to contest elections for the next decade.
"Another amendment which would prevent the elected independent
candidate from being a minister or the chairperson of a corporation,
for quite some time from his election, should be adopted by the
Parliament," he stated.
Dr Jalmi further said that a new democratic system can be evolved
by wiping out the provision for territorial representatives, dissolving
all constituencies. "The voters should be allowed to vote for the
political parties, instead of the candidates, based on the party
manifestoes, and then the parties could be given the representation
in the House based on the percentage of votes gained by them,"
he remarked.
The vice-president of the United Goan Democratic Party (UGDP),
Mr Radharao Gracias, speaking on the occasion said that in Goa,
there is no equality amongst the voters as envisaged by the
Constitution and every candidate asks for votes on the grounds
of the caste and the community.
"The good laws are pre-requisite for good government," he stressed,
alleging that the voters are basically dishonest and the entire
society needs to be changed.
No representative of the BJP was present for the interactive session
held at Surendrababu Timblo Hall, Panaji today.
The editor of the Konkani daily Sunaprant, Mr Sandesh Prabhudessai,
who moderated the event said that a new trend of by-elections has
replaced the existing practice of defections, in Goa. Mr Prabhudessai
also reviewed various governments that were formed in Goa during
the past two decades, pushing the state into an abyss of instability.
The GUJ president, Mr Ashely do Rosario delivered the introductory
speech, while the Union's general secretary, Mr Umesh Mahambrey
welcomed. Later, the members of the audience interacted with the
leaders of the political parties.
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The Navhind Times 29/05/05 page 5
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