Credibility is the key

DEMOCRACY, they say, provides the ingredients of a non-violent society since different interests can be resolved through dialogue and accomm...

DEMOCRACY, they say, provides the ingredients of a non-violent society since different interests can be resolved through dialogue and accommodation. It would naturally be in our interests that the will of the people to install a new government for the next six years is expressed through a fair and free election. We need the democratic process to remain credible for our own sake rather than to impress 8216;observers8217; and other people outside. The debate about what would constitute credible elections and their results is important. There is no reason to doubt that the Election Commission, which is charged under the Constitution to ensure fair and free elections, will not be able to ensure that except for the terrorist violence that may impinge on the process. The government must provide adequate capabilities to ensure that an environment of security prevails. The forces themselves must ensure that such an ambience is created without intruding into the actual electoral process in any way. This would make a major contribution to elections being free, and also being seen to be free.

Last October8217;s panchayat elections which recorded a high turn out should indicate the sentiments of the people in respect of shaping their own destiny, which is what the democratic process is all about. The assembly elections will of course record a much lower turn out. But there is every reason to believe that it will be much higher than the 1996 figures. The Hurriyat leadership would be under a crucial test: if it claims to speak for the people, then it should be willing to prove that right through the ballot box. Otherwise it would simply be letting another opportunity go by to lead the people. At the same time, it is important that political parties come up with rational objective agendas and manifestos which would work toward removing vertical and horizontal inequities, both within the state and in relation to the rest of the country.

There is, of course, the larger problem of ensuring that the electoral process is also free of external militant and political intrusions. The credibility of Pakistan, which goes into its own electoral process at around the same time, therefore, will be important, especially in relation to its commitment to the welfare and well-being of the people of the state. General Musharraf may need some incentive to move further on the path of non-interference in Kashmir. This should now be promised, possibly by the prime minister on the Independence Day, through an offer of dialogue to open a fresh chapter in bilateral relations once the two election processes are successfully completed. At the same time, serious steps need to be taken to redefine devolution of powers to states as required under a truly federal structure.