| Business |
Exercising the power of the vote
SOME informed debate on the election
process seems overdue.
While there’s not enough time to bring about changes before the
coming election, that should not be a reason for beginning a
process of electoral analysis and reflection.
We are all familiar with the basics.
In Papua New Guinea we are fortunate to have an electoral basis of
one person, one vote.
We are even more fortunate to have equality of voting rights for
men and women.
The voting system envisaged by the Constitution is sound, balanced
and fair.
Or is it?
The problems are as old as time.
As with many other issues, people blame “the system”.
But the difficulties lie less with the system than with the people
within that system.
It is the manipulation of the rational, the twisting and
re-shaping of perfectly plain provisions that holds so much of our
society to ransom.
Clauses with meanings clear to all become litigous nightmares, and
court proceedings and enquiries are increasingly fought out by
manipulative wordsmiths.
In PNG, we have electoral provisions that make compulsory the
entry of a qualified voter’s name on the Common Roll. Those who do
not enrol run the risk of being fined.
To the best of our knowledge, very few people have been fined for
failing to enrol. Neverthless that power is present and could in
theory be more thoroughly activated at any time.
At the same time our laws do not make voting compulsory.
In other words, while it is compulsory to ensure your name is on
the Common Roll, you face no censure if you do not vote.
Should these provisions remain as they are?
Are there advantages to ensuring that both electoral registration
and the voting process are compulsory?
It can be argued that the aim of maximum voter turnout is vital
for a healthy democracy; some would add that it’s even more
important in a developing country, where political stability is an
important pre-requisite to investment and constructive
development.
PNG has a floating population of unemployed.
The numbers rise each year.
Our cities, towns and urban areas become clogged with human
debris, the result of forces well beyond their control. Squatter
settlements, casual street crime, fustration crimes such as rape
and bashings are all to some extent, the product of the problems
that accompany that human tide.
The majority has long ago lost any confidence in the power of the
system to address its needs.
But we believe that the system has the built-in power to find
answers, but it does not have enough educated, experienced and
above all humane people to effectively address the issues.
The results are evident on all sides.
A gulf has long existed between the haves and have-nots.
Today it is a yawning chasm.
Many of those on the wrong side of that chasm can see no point in
voting unless they can be paid well for “selling” their vote to
the highest political bidder.
It is near impossible to persuade people at this level of
frustration and apathy that their vote can “change” matters.
They’ve been promised change before and all the myriad of benefits
it can bring.
But poverty still bites.
Jobs remain a dream.
And crime is always there beckoning from the shadows.
The question is then whether or not forcing such people to vote
would bring about more rapid and more purposeful levels of change.
One constant complaint is that “the member” has never done
anything for the poor except make unfulfilled promises, buy votes
and ensure his own survival.
People have long voted for the most vocal, the most outgoing and
the best-heeled candidate, the one who sugar-coats his demand for
your ballot and promises you the world.
That habit must stop if we are to get quality leaders in the seats
and in Parliament.
Is it possible that a compulsory vote might boost the realisation
that voting is serious business, and that by voting for a
qualified and hard-working candidate, that gulf between the haves
and have-nots could be significantly narrowed?
We must lift the perceived value and importance of voting and
divest this core democratic process of the cheats, the liars and
the manipulators who hold the whole country to ransom.
 
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