| Sports |
by Dr MICHAEL
UNAGE
Democracy is
alive in PNG
THE PNG Constitution allows for a general
election every five years, enabling the people to assess the performance
of their elected representatives in Parliament and decide accordingly.
Periodic elections reinforce the concept that the exercise of democratic
authority does not permanently reside in a few individuals.
Elected representative must know very well that the position that they
hold belong to the people, and they are accountable to them in whatever
they do.
The nation is currently going through another general election and soon,
we will know who have been successful in their bid to enter Parliament.
The people’s choices, whether good or bad, will affect their well-being
in the next five years.
It is unfortunate that many of the people do not understand the concept
of representation. The electoral boundary demarcated is a conglomeration
of many tribes, each of which want to have one of their own represent
them.
As a consequence, some resort to illegal and undesirable means such as
double voting, impersonation, intimidation and ethnic block-voting.
The idea of having a free and fair election by letting individuals have
their say is alien to the mentality of these people.
In the villages, collective rights of people take precedence over
individual rights.
Individual rights is not a separate dish, but is part and parcel of
collective rights of the groups.
Many MPs are a little more educated than these people and think like
their village folk.
Once elected, he feels that his prime responsibility is to the tribe.
Cash handouts and feasts are symptoms of this mentality.
The deterioration of rural infrastructure and the increased level of
cash poverty are of no concern to these elected representatives.
The only political strategy they know best is to keep the voters happy.
In this manner, both the voters and their representative find it
impossible to help influence the real political developments in PNG.
Parochialism and cargo mentality seriously defeat and taint the true
spirit of representative democracy.
People seem to think that their involvement in the political process is
only confined to the election time and not during the five-year term of
political representation.
I overheard a person say that when he cast his votes, he does that for
the benefit of the candidate, and not for the well-being of his own
family. The so-called politician and spouse will benefit from his vote.
The gentleman told those around him that they would still be the same
tomorrow despite making their decision through the ballot, while the
elected politician will fly in all colours.
What this person simply meant is that his vote is of no benefit to him
in the next five years, and that it benefits only the winner and his
cronies.
He feels that voting is a futile exercise for the people.
If he sees voting as of no direct benefit to him, we then wonder why
people like him voted.
People in the electorate have to choose a person whom they think would
be a suitable representative.
The person should be in government to at least be influential in any
political decision affecting the well-being of people.
Some radical and educated mind may regard voting as useless expenditure
for the purpose of maintaining a system of government introduced by the
colonial masters.
We can now see the huge costs incurred by the Electoral Commission in
mobilising resources, running into millions of kina – only for some
greedy MPs to fill their own pockets with public funds.
Others may see elections as a necessity to maintain political
institutions and is a sine qua non for every democratic state, and if
lots of money has to be spent, so be it.
We can also demonstrate to the world that PNG is embracing the
democratic type of government it adopted during independence and is a
vibrant state.
One the other hand, in the last 30 years, the political and even the
administrative structures and processes are in no way facilitating the
development and well-being of the majority of people.
These political and administrative processes seem to benefit the 70,000
civil servants and the 109 MPs more than the people who are struggling
to make ends meet.
The many fees imposed on the citizens by both government and the private
sector is too much for an average wage earner, not counting the majority
who has no means of income at all.
In recent times, a few political analysts have called PNG a failed state
and say that it needs recolonisation.
They are using the wrong tools to measure democratic performances in
PNG.
People in PNG should question if the institutional structures of
democracy adopted from the West is suited for our country.
PNG is a thousand states in one and the social setting and structure is
completely different to that of Europe.
If PNG wants to maintain a workable system of governance, we need to
seriously think about changing the democratic institutional structures
which are a hindrance and cannot be sustained.
The institution of authority is a universal phenomena, however. The type
of structure that accommodates authority can be either good or bad,
workable or not.
But we should not forget that ordering and the well-being of people is
the sole reason for any institution of authority.
Ordering and well-being of people is something characteristics of being
human, and reflects their dignity and intelligence as beings conscious
of their welfare.
In this vein, democratic governance is regarded as the most convenient
human manner of self-ordering authority.
For PNG, is it possible to argue for a distinction between values and
attributes of democracy to the types of democratic institutions it
adopted.
The real issue is that PNG traditions have characteristics of democracy
embedded in their ethnic type of governance and the institutional
authority structure imposed by the West does not fit into it.
The political institution imposed by the west on PNG is open to abuse of
authority, and in turn makes elected representatives become plutocrat
(millionaires overnight).
This is not a true reflection of political democracy, but of capitalist
democracy.
It will not be easy to work out a type of governance structure that will
suit PNG.
However, if we do not alter the structure now in place, there will never
be a vibrant democracy in PNG in the long run.
Thus, power and wealth will reside in only a few, disadvantaging the
majority of people, who in the long run will be powerless in a
precarious democratic state.
 
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