Editorial:-
Elections are approaching and even though the fever is yet to catch on among the voters, electioneering, as in campaign engineering, is very much underway. Soon, there is going to be confusion galore in the public domain and the electorate is going to get pulled along caste and community divides, the easiest fault lines to tweak when politicians find themselves short on time and issues. The violence and communal elbowing is already in the air and there is also a profusion of claims, allegations, counter-allegations and promises. What Sikkim does not have yet, and has not experienced in past elections either, are coherent arguments debated by responsible and intelligent voices which clearly delineate parties on clear ideological stands on different issues. Now is the time for the voters to demand that their aspiring representatives for Elections 2014 come clean on exactly where they stand and why. Get the correction fluid out, the “where” is frequently announced because irrespective of the camp or party, all politics and politicians in Sikkim are about protecting Old Laws, respecting Article 371F and securing benefits for Sikkim Subjects. Recent mixes to this are the OBC aspirations and Schedule Tribe seat reservation. It is interesting that all parties espouse full commitment to these issues. They also accuse each other with same passion of not being serious in their commitment to these issues and insist that they remain true. Accept it, this is lazy politics. No party, ‘national’ parties included, in Sikkim will admit to anything but the complete support for protection of Old Laws and related aspects. So that should not even figure in public discourses unless they are going to explain their stands [the ‘whys’] beyond their ‘commitment’ to the sanctity of Article 371F of the Constitution. Leaders need to credit the electorate with more intelligence and explain their stands and solutions in more detail. Say for example the Companies Act and the confusion over it. Every party, including the ruling party, is against the repeal of the Sikkim Registration of Companies Act of 1961. They all want it protected because it is an Old Law. What no party of leader has explained is how and why an Act of 52 year vintage is better than an Act drafted in 2013. Shouldn’t they? And there is the seat reservation issue for the Limboos and Tamangs by virtue of their having become Scheduled Tribes. Every party says it will deliver these seats, none [save the State Government] has shared how. Sikkim’s Old Laws, Article 371F and the Sikkim Subject Certificates are emotional issues for all Sikkimese and it is easy to play on their emotions on these matters. It is time that the people demanded clearer explanations from its leaders and aspirants on these issues and tested their understanding of these matters beyond the customary emotional support. The run up to the elections allow the people to make these queries. They should not waste the chance.
As mentioned, the “where” about positions on these emotional issues is clear, it is the justification for that position which needs to be explained, and now [this period till elections are officially announced] is the best time for voters to seek details. As elections draw even closer, parties will split and re-form, allies will come together and part ways and confusion will reign after the tickets are announced. Once that stage is reached, coherence will get even more muddled. People need to convey to politicians that they have had enough of readymade inferences, claims and claims to having solutions; such speeches mock the intelligence of the masses. Too often, the people have been served “issues” by politicians in Sikkim; it is time that the people discussed and conveyed what really matters to them and what “issue” they want the aspirants to debate in the next elections…
Elections are approaching and even though the fever is yet to catch on among the voters, electioneering, as in campaign engineering, is very much underway. Soon, there is going to be confusion galore in the public domain and the electorate is going to get pulled along caste and community divides, the easiest fault lines to tweak when politicians find themselves short on time and issues. The violence and communal elbowing is already in the air and there is also a profusion of claims, allegations, counter-allegations and promises. What Sikkim does not have yet, and has not experienced in past elections either, are coherent arguments debated by responsible and intelligent voices which clearly delineate parties on clear ideological stands on different issues. Now is the time for the voters to demand that their aspiring representatives for Elections 2014 come clean on exactly where they stand and why. Get the correction fluid out, the “where” is frequently announced because irrespective of the camp or party, all politics and politicians in Sikkim are about protecting Old Laws, respecting Article 371F and securing benefits for Sikkim Subjects. Recent mixes to this are the OBC aspirations and Schedule Tribe seat reservation. It is interesting that all parties espouse full commitment to these issues. They also accuse each other with same passion of not being serious in their commitment to these issues and insist that they remain true. Accept it, this is lazy politics. No party, ‘national’ parties included, in Sikkim will admit to anything but the complete support for protection of Old Laws and related aspects. So that should not even figure in public discourses unless they are going to explain their stands [the ‘whys’] beyond their ‘commitment’ to the sanctity of Article 371F of the Constitution. Leaders need to credit the electorate with more intelligence and explain their stands and solutions in more detail. Say for example the Companies Act and the confusion over it. Every party, including the ruling party, is against the repeal of the Sikkim Registration of Companies Act of 1961. They all want it protected because it is an Old Law. What no party of leader has explained is how and why an Act of 52 year vintage is better than an Act drafted in 2013. Shouldn’t they? And there is the seat reservation issue for the Limboos and Tamangs by virtue of their having become Scheduled Tribes. Every party says it will deliver these seats, none [save the State Government] has shared how. Sikkim’s Old Laws, Article 371F and the Sikkim Subject Certificates are emotional issues for all Sikkimese and it is easy to play on their emotions on these matters. It is time that the people demanded clearer explanations from its leaders and aspirants on these issues and tested their understanding of these matters beyond the customary emotional support. The run up to the elections allow the people to make these queries. They should not waste the chance.
As mentioned, the “where” about positions on these emotional issues is clear, it is the justification for that position which needs to be explained, and now [this period till elections are officially announced] is the best time for voters to seek details. As elections draw even closer, parties will split and re-form, allies will come together and part ways and confusion will reign after the tickets are announced. Once that stage is reached, coherence will get even more muddled. People need to convey to politicians that they have had enough of readymade inferences, claims and claims to having solutions; such speeches mock the intelligence of the masses. Too often, the people have been served “issues” by politicians in Sikkim; it is time that the people discussed and conveyed what really matters to them and what “issue” they want the aspirants to debate in the next elections…
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