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Visit http://www.garcabranca.com for details/booking/confirmation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ OF COALITIONS AND ALLIANCES. Averthanus L. D'Souza. The confusion in the movements of politicians among political parties is a symptom of the lack of understanding among these politicians of how a democratic system works. This, of course, is not surprising, given the kind of people who have dominated the political arena over the last few years. By now it has become obvious to the citizens (hopefully) that most of the politicians who enter into the political arena do so only as an extension of their strategy to amass illegal wealth at the cost of the citizens and of the exchequer. These social parasites are driven by extreme greed and unrestricted ambition. The flip side of the coin is that the electorate also exercises its franchise in an unintelligent and highly uninformed manner. Most citizens want to "get their work done" by hook or by crook. Therefore they tend to support individuals who have exhibited the skills of "getting things done by hook or by crook." Greedy electors and greedy politicians form a perfect synergistic combination which is guaranteed to destroy real democracy. Goa has become a model of unprincipled and blatantly corrupt politics, in spite of being rated the first State in the country to have achieved the highest standards of literacy, health, infant mortality and fertility rates. There is certainly something very very rotten in the State of Goa. This can become an interesting field of research for students of political science. In the meantime, however, the magnitude of ignorance of the political processes, and the serious lack of ethical credibility is frightening, to say the least. The time has come for citizens to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and to begin to assume responsibility for the horrid mess in which we find ourselves. There is no point whatsoever in blaming the politicians. Recent events have demonstrated, beyond any doubt, that we get the government that we deserve. What then, is the challenge before the citizens of Goa? IDENTIFY AND ELECT QUALIFIED PERSONS. In all commercial, manufacturing or trading enterprises today, only qualified persons are employed. Office secretaries are tested for their knowledge of secretarial practice. Even the recruitment of peons in a Bank requires a graduate degree. Nothing less will be found acceptable. Why then, when it comes to electing people who will govern us and are required to administer justice, do we elect persons who are not only unqualified for the job, but are actually on the wrong side of the judicial divide? Enlightened citizens, civic societies and voluntary organizations do their utmost to inform citizens of the unworthiness of some individuals to be elected to membership of the Legislature. In spite of this, persons with proven criminal backgrounds are elected. Who is to blame? SELECT ONLY PEOPLE WITH PROPER EXPERIENCE. Besides proper qualifications, many professional bodies require that their members acquire adequate experience "on the job". Thus in the legal profession, a qualified lawyer still has to do a term of internship. Similarly for the medical profession, no qualified doctor is admitted to the Medical Council unless s/he has fulfilled the internship requirements. The same is true for Chartered Accountancy and for other professions. We should treat our legislators with the same respect. No person should be elected to the Assembly (or to Parliament) unless s/he has the necessary (proven) experience. We can see on television the unruly and unconscionable behaviour of our elected representatives in the august precincts of the House. COALITIONS AND ALLIANCES. Which brings us to the phenomenon of coalition politics and political alliances. In recent times, political parties have resorted to coalitions to be able to "prove their majority" in the House. The first deformity underlying this thinking is that a mere majority of numbers is sufficient to give sanction to a party to govern. True democracy is not just a government by force of numbers; it is a government which has the "ethical" right to represent the citizens. Coalitions are a mockery of democratic government. We need to evolve systems which will make coalition government impossible. The recent formation of the Goa Democratic Alliance is a striking example of unprincipled politics which has overtaken Goan society. The coming together of totally unprincipled individuals for the sole purpose of overthrowing a duly elected government was a "conspiracy" of criminals - not a political alliance. An alliance implies that the parties which form an alliance have some common objective - quite obviously of an honourable nature. The Goa Democratic Alliance was concocted after an electoral process, and had only the dishonourable purpose of dislodging a government. The alliance did not have a common programme - and did not even attempt to formulate an alternative to the "manifesto" of the Congress coalition. It is just as well, (and was predictable) that this unholy alliance has fallen apart. Let us hope that Goa will not see such unprincipled alliances again. Averthanus L. D'Souza, D-13, La Marvel Colony, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- **** http://www.GOANET.org **** --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow the online presence of the Museum of Christian Art, Old Goa Contacts: Tel: +91 832 2285299 Email:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://christianartmuseum.goa-india.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------