KINDLY ACCEPT FOR PUBLICATION IN YOUR NEWSPAPER DR NEIL RANGELSANTO ESTEVAM, GOA(CURRENTLY IN UAE 00 971 558954717) The elections have been a disaster for the honest Goan from all fronts. Bad enough that the legislature has been taken over in a case of broad daylight robbery by political thugs with no ethics or conscience of any kind. Worse; two constitutional authorities have failed to defend the constitution when called upon to do so - the Goa governor and the Supreme Court itself. The silence of the President of the country is inexplicable. I am not an INC supporter but the election results did give the INC the mandate to attempt toform the government and in a democratic setup that we claim to have; they should have first been invited first. The issue at stake is morals and ethics in politics and public life and Mr. Parrikar has proven to the Goan people he has very little of these. Everything(engineering U-turns by the independents and smaller parties) seems pre-planned well before the election results. What has happened is nothing but an assault on and the murder of democracy and the Supreme Court ruling is unknowingly party to this. The Supreme court judgment has failed to safeguard the Indian Constitution and its high ideals. This Supreme Court judgment is flawed and has not been helpful on this - an opportunity was lost to set a healthy precedent for future similar electoral outcomes in states in the future. The judge it seems is too naive and does not understand how dirty Indian politics is and how crooked and calculating perpetrators of this filth are. Judges are bound to uphold democratic principles - not a mob like system where the fastest rogue gets the prize. This is not a rat race. Quoted in an article; the eminent jurist Fali Nariman also disagrees with this judgment -this judgment simply missed the point that the constitutional principle is not about who rushed first but about who should have been called first. He said that: " the Constitution as well as judicial precedents laid down that the Governor was obligated to call the leader of the single largest party first to form the government..". The silence of the honorable President of the country is deafening - wonder what may be wrong. He has a solemn obligation to protect and safeguard the Constitution and honest citizens against abuses by unscrupulous elements in power. The judgment is an open invitation for future political horse-trading in a primitive political system that's flooded with opportunistic crooks and political turncoats - what can now be called the golden age of political pimping and political prostitution - analogous to a situation where a crooked pimp entices a dishonest prostitute to go to bed with him; by leaving on the sly in the middle of the night despite the client having paid the full price. Off course; no marks for guessing which politicians in Goa fit these descriptions. Hopefully these terms will gain more widespread acceptance and politicians will be labeled as such for all to know how crooked they are. Goa has the misfortune of having a subservient BJP stooge as a Governor - she recently endorsed the local BJP stand that the sacred coconut tree is no different from grass than can be chopped down at will; does not matter that they have hurt the religious sentiments of many concerned Hindus in Goa . One often wonders if she has a moral spine or any reasonable intellect. She should have refused to give assent to the legislation damning the coconut tree and in these elections; she should have invited the INC to attempt to form the government. This election has also had its fair share of money power being used for votes. The outcome of the FIR filed against one MLA(well known for his habit of distributing 500 INR Goa Bagayatdar grocery coupons through his cronies/panchayat members to the greedy) will be a test case for the efficacy of the election commission and the investigating agencies in our democracy. It is an open fact that these were being distributed this time even after the code of conduct came into effect. The good thing we are told is that many Goans did not accept them. I am no supporter of the INC but their leaders cannot be blamed - this is not a rat-race for time as the judge makes it out to be - we pride ourselves of being a mature democracy; but the judge should have insisted that in all fairness; the Governor should have first called the party with the largest share of elected representatives to form the government and prove their majority within a specified time-frame.Goans now have a failed defense minister as chief minister. Worse he's an insult to all those who accompanied him to the candle-light vigil against the casinos many years back when he was in the opposition. I call on all concerned Goans to continuously protest in large numbers in a peoples power movement. Crooks have to be shown the door. This Governor should be dismissed as she cannot uphold democratic principles. Urgent electoral reforms are needed. The electoral system in India is too primitive for a democracy - neither free nor fair. Newcomers cannot face the muscle-money power of crooks. Effective measures have to be in place to make an election corruption-free. The ruling governments should resign 3 months before elections to have a free and fair process. There has to be a run-off between two leading candidates if any one does not receive more than 50% of the vote or else you land up with what we have now - a 31 % prime minister. All religious-communal parties should be not only banned but disbanded in keeping with the secular framework of the country. The Governor should first invite the party with the largest number of winning candidates, to attempt to form a stable government. Politicians must have a basic recognized degree or diploma- every job requires some qualifications - the qualifications must be attested or else one ends up with the situation of the current prime minister who many have reason to believe, may not have a genuine educational qualification he claims to have. Lastly there must be a low to disqualify an politician who engineers defections or U-turns. And any elected LA who resigns his post should be made to pay for the entire expenses of not just a recently conducted election in that constituency but also the by-election that will follow- a just deterrent against this madness . This should be applied to the Valpoi MLA who just resigned.
