ELECTION COMMISSIONERS AND CAESER'S WIFE - 2

Naveen Chawla, the Election Commissioner who has been facing allegations of political partisanship almost since the day he was appointed to what is supposed to be a neutral body, has taken over as the Chief Election Commissioner(CEC) today. Despite the written recommendation of his predecessor, N Gopalaswamy, that he was unfit to hold this high constitutional office, the government has chosen what the whole world believes is favoritism over fairness.

The role of the three Election Commissioners in ensuring free and fair elections is vital to the survival of democracy. At the time of the elections, they have sit in judgment over incidents and complaints of electoral malpractices by various political parties and candidates. Therefore, they have not only to be spotlessly fair, but have to be seen to be so. For that, no one in his right mind can disagree that all political parties should consider them to be politically neutral. The Caeser's wife principle has to apply to them.

In the appointment of Naveen Chawla as the CEC, the Congress has brazenly ignored that touchstone. As a result, the Election Commission is now a body in whose impartiality virtually no political party except the Congress has faith. By rewarding one individual for what a lot of people perceive is his close association with the Nehru-Gandhi family, the Congress has shaken the very foundation of the institution.

Already, noises are being made about the political partisanship of the Election Commission. It started with the Varun Gandhi case when the commission issued an unprecedented advice to the BJP to avoid fielding him as a candidate due to his hate speech. This hurried decision was based on the CDs of the hate speech which the commission, trusting the eyes and ears of the three ECs, found to be not tampered with. The same commission has not taken any action on the hate speeches being repeatedly made by Sanjay Dutt to anger Muslims and get their votes. For those who might not know details, Sunil and Nargis Dutt's son, is going around the country telling voters that he was beaten up in jail because he was a "musalman ka bachcha" (child of a Muslim), his mother being Muslim, and that other Muslims in jail with him faced similar treatment. For decades he did not make such an allegation to anyone, including his father, who was a Congress MP.

There are other cases of hate speeches too which the EC has ignored. It may have done so on merit. But the perception that it is a biased body is not going away, as the Congress should have known, as should have Naveen Chawla himself. Had the perceptions been voiced respectfully to express disagreements with the views and decisions of the EC, all would have appeared fine. In fact all political parties are giving that respect to the commission, partly because in the middle of elections they were wary of annoying the wise ECs.

But Mayawati is not one to couch truth, even a ounce of it, in sophisticated words that give the recipient of her fury a respectable escape route. She fired the first salvo against the Commission when it ordered the removal of the Principal Secretary (Home) of UP. Not only did she show that finger by appointing him almost immediately as Principal Secretary in the CM's secretariat, she hit back by saying that the transfer was "politically motivated" and warned that the EC would be responsible if any there were any law and order problems. No prizes for guessing who was the "motivator" she was referring to.

As per news being flashed on various channels, she has shed even that small pretence and has now openly called the Election Commission a "stooge of the Congress" and attacked even the other EC, SY Quraishi. This is something that almost all non-Congress politicians have been wanting to say but were afraid to. This is in response to the orders of the EC transferring three police officers in connection with the death under suspicious circumstances of a candidate, Bahadur Sonkar, who was found hanging from a tree. No matter what some people might say about Mayawati, she is the CM of India's biggest state and might well be the PM next month if the results do not throw up a clear winner.

There are still more than three weeks to go before the last phase of the elections. Undoubtedly, more complaints will be made and more decisions taken by the Election Commission. With Naveen Chawla as the CEC, there is little doubt that the Commission is going to face many more charges of being an extension of the Congress party rather than being the impartial body it is supposed to be.

There is little doubt that many of these allegations will be "politically motivated". But, can the fact be denied that by letting what many believe is its obsession to ensure that the EC does not work against its interests, the Congress has opened the doors to the denigration of the institution itself? Is there anyone who thinks that Chawla's appointment was free of partisan interest?

The serious damage that has been done to the image of the EC can now not be undone. But, this should set alarm bells everywhere including in the media. It needs to be mentioned that had the media been more alive to their responsibilities as a neutral watchdog, perhaps things would not have come to this sorry pass. Something needs to be done to ensure that this does not happen again.

No matter which political party is in power, as long as it has the sole discretion to appoint guys who have to sit in judgment over it, it will succumb to the temptation to pick someone who will act as its agent in the Commission. That is an unpleasant fact that cannot be denied. Therefore, if the sanctity and authority of the EC has to be safeguarded then it has to start from the selection of the ECs itself. There have been suggestions of involving the Leader of the Opposition, among others, in the selection process. The basic principle that needs to be followed in adopting a new system is that there should be no scope for any insinuation that an EC has been appointed on the basis of political partisanship. The Caeser's wife principle has to applied without any reservation.

After the Varun Gandhi episode, there has been a lot of talk about giving more "teeth" to the EC. Sure, that change is sorely needed. But that must not be even thought of as long as the political party in power remains the sole appointing authority of the three Election Commissioners.
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NAVEEN CHAWLA STAYS; ANOTHER INSTITUTION GOES

No matter that more than 90% Indians believe that political loyalties are destroying institutions, no matter what examples need to be set by those who lead, no matter what impact its actions may have on the very fundamentals of the election process, the government of the day has once again told the nation that it will try every dirty trick in the book to get back into power, even if that means subverting the democratic will of the people.

Election Commissione (EC) Naveen Chawla, believed to be close to the Congress High Command since the days of the infamous Emergency, stays. Serious charges leveled against him by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswami and his recommendation to remove him have been rejected by the "government". The carefully chosen President of the country has also quietly signed where asked, as expected. One more institution goes.

It is one man's word against another, says the "government", adding that it is unbecoming on part of a constitutional authority (read CEC) to behave in such a manner. The "government" has found nothing substantial in the letter of the CEC has and said that events that took place within the four walls of the Election Commission cannot be independently verified. Who is this so-called "government"? It is no more than a political entity about to go into general elections. It is a political entity that Naveen Chawla has been accused of blatantly favouring as EC even though he is required to be completely neutral. And this charge has not materialised suddenly out of thin air. It has been made against him almost since the day he was hand picked by this very political entity that knew that he would be CEC at the time of the elections.

Let us be clear about one basic fact. As far as the conduct of elections are concerned, the government is no different from other political parties and cannot enjoy an unquestioned status above above the Election Commission. It is an interested and affected party as are all others. Therefore, legalities apart, if it appoints an Election Commissioner who is widely viewed to be openly biased towards it, it is a matter of serious concern. On top of it , if the CEC, who has till now not given a whiff of being anything but absolutely fair and neutral, levels serious charges against him on that very ground and recommends his removal, then the "government" really has no moral and ethical locus standi to sit in judgment on it.

It as if a co-accused is hearing his own case as a judge and declaring himself and the main accused innocent!

As per a news report, Naveen Chawla has already started the pay back to the Congress. Last week, in the middle of the hectic work in the Election Commission, he suddenly took two days leave. Due to this, the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule which was to be made on Sunday has been delayed. There is speculation that Chawla was biding for more time to give the government additional time to carry on with the massive advertisement campaign it has launched with tax payers' money, before the model code of conduct comes into force on the announcement of the poll schedule.

No one can "prove" that Chawla took leave to help the Congress, just as no can prove the many charges that have been labeled against him about what he has done before and after becoming EC, including what he did during the Emergency, for which he was later recommended to be dismissed from service. But that there is so much of smoke and there are so many doubts about his impartiality cannot simply be brushed away by the government. If Chawla appears to be like an umpire who can make some old Pakistani cricket umpires look like angels, then it is only a desperate, valueless and immoral dispensation that will keep him and destroy the game.

Better should not have been expected from the Congress. It has long given up the spirit and practice of democracy. In 1975, Indira Gandhi first displayed her utter contempt for both judicial and democratic processes when she found herself unable to democratically face and respond to the challenges that she faced. She subverted both by imposing the Emergency and amending the constitution. From then on, at every possible opportunity, the party has only destroyed institutions and set in a political rot that has now spread across the political spectrum. That mindset has not changed at all, despite the Emergency experience. That is why even within the Congress, inner party democracy has been completely destroyed and the party now is little more than a fan club meant solely to protect and project its first family.

The retention of Naveen Chawla as EC and his expected ascension as CEC in April means that one more institution of India's democracy has been sacrificed at the altar of political greed and dishonesty. It remains to be seen whether this day light murder in this information age will yield dividends for the Congress in the coming elections. Will Naveen Chawla's assistance be enough to overcome the negative impact of his retention on the minds of informed voters or will those who care about democracy and its institutions be able to still teach our politicians a real lesson?
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ELECTION COMMISSIONERS AND CAESER'S WIFE

When 94% of the people of a country believe that political loyalties are destroying institutions, the matter is far too serious to be casually dismissed. If the results of the SMS/web poll on CNN-IBN's Face the Nation (FTN) program on February 03, 2009 are accurately reflective of the nation's opinion, it is a matter of grave national concern that despite their stock being so low, our leaders are neither troubled morally nor pushed into mending their ways practically.

Why is it so? Because the rot transcends all party barriers and they all know that this leaves the voter with no real choice. He has to choose between parties and individuals whose stink is indistinguishable. Can this state of affairs continue interminably? Politicians seem to think so, unmindful of the sharp decline in the percentage of people who believe that democracy is the best option available to govern this country.

The ongoing debate on the very serious charges levelled by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswami against Election Commissioner (EC) Naveen Chawla has almost got totally hijacked on political lines, with very respected media personalities and others talking of legalities and 'ethics' based solely on their political alignments. There is hardly anyone who is focusing on the real and very serious issues of the corrosion of basic values and the betrayal of people's trust in the democratic process that this sordid saga represents.

Naveen Chawla, has been facing allegations from day one about corruption and his very close political alignment with the Congress party since the days of the infamous Emergency when he was the personal secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. As per former bureaucrat BS Raghavan, Chawla's conduct during those dark days when he had direct access to Sanjay Gandhi was so undesirable that the LP Singh committee found him "unfit to hold any public office" and recorded that "he deserved to be summarily dismissed from service without any further inquiry or proceedings, invoking the special powers under provisos (b) and (c) of Article 311 of the Constitution".

Nobody is any doubt that Naveen Chawla was appointed election commissioner by the government based primarily on his blatantly partisan political past. If there was any hope that the gentleman would conduct himself with the dignity and neutrality that is expected of an EC, it was repeatedly belied by his often desperate attempts to favour the Congress party. At least that is what the CEC has manifestly said in his report to the President.

There may be a 'congruence' between the views of the CEC and the BJP, as the Congress is saying to dismiss the serious charges that have been made by the former. There may be constitutional and legal grey areas about the right of the CEC to do what he has done. But, is that the real issue? The fundamental question that all those who support the Congress are trying to avoid is of integrity, bipartisanship and a value system that needs to be protected rather than destroyed totally.

And this question transcends parties. Today it is the Congress which is showing to the whole nation that it wants to take no chances with getting back into power by hook or election commissioner crook. Tomorrow it may be the BJP which might do the same. It is the continuance of the practice of destruction of all institutions that should be energising analysts and commentators rather than petty partisanship. As Sagarika Ghose brought out in the FTN program, this downslide was started by Indira Gandhi and has today reached such alarming proportions that almost all citizens have lost faith in the intentions of political parties and politically committed bureaucrats to maintain the dignity and sanctity of almost all institutions that they have anything to do with.

Those blaming the CEC for leaning towards the BJP do not want to talk about the fact that under his stewardship this country has had the cleanest ever elections in its history without any political bias whatsoever. The bias, if any, has been repeatedly displayed by Naveen Chawla, the man the Congress wants to make the next CEC.

That the CEC's intentions are honourable is evident from the fact that he has recommended that the CEC and ECs be debarred from taking up gubernatorial assignments, membership of legislatures or even joining a political party for up to 10 years after demitting office. In addition he has called for an impartial selection procedure for election commissioners through the involvement of the Leader of Opposition as well as Lok Sabha Speaker and deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha. Can anyone argue with the soundness of these proposals? But the extent of the rot that the whole nation can see is so pervasive that hardly any attention is being paid to these proposals which should have been put in place long ago and are badly needed to ensure that the institution of the Election Commission is not destroyed by political partisanship.

As far as holding of elections is concerned, the government of the day is no 'superior' body that is above the Election Commission. It is an interested and affected party because it is no more than a political party or group that is seeking the mandate of the people. Therefore, legalities apart, any action taken by it to appoint Election Commissioners is likely to biased unless we have people of unimpeachable integrity making such appointments. Such people, as the whole nation believes, are shunned by all political parties who are interested solely in grabbing power, all means fair.

The the role of the Election Commission and its three Election Commissioners in ensuring the holding of free and fair elections is central to the survival of democracy. In the discharge of their duties, they have to be politically spotlessly neutral.

Like Caesar's wife, the ECs also have to be above suspicion. That is the touchstone that is being forgotten in the debate on the suitability of Naveen Chawla to become the next CEC. That the Congress party which has chosen him will want to overlook this critical aspect is understandable. But those who are finding all kinds of disingenuous arguments to support its position are equally guilty of contributing to the destruction of this institution.

Perhaps it is time for Dr Manmohan Singh to rise above the muck once again and ensure that the neutrality and impartiality of Election Commissioners is not sacrificed on the alter of political deceit. If it is, we will have an even more cynical nation that may soon lose complete faith in not just political parties but also in democracy. Would any political party want that to happen?