We, at Goa Su-Raj Party- GSRP, appreciate the analysis put forth by Mr.Tadeus Gracias in his write up ‘Special People’ (People’s Edit, Herald, 12 December) and would want to expand on the same to show that what is being dished around as governance is not ‘politics’ but ‘politrics’, so that Goans may take note while voting in the Goa’s next general elections to the assembly in 2016-17.
At Goa Su-Raj Party, we believe that there are two types of persons who come forward to contest elections, either on party tickets or as independents. Those who would want to put some discipline into the political system and industriously utilize the tax-payer’s hard earned money to improve their lives (sans themselves growing fat on this largesse which is most often ignored by the tax-payers themselves after paying into the kitty), and those who want to make the best use of the same through misleading and fooling people and through purchasing their confidence in them by servicing them regularly with gifts and praises much before they step out into the political bull-fighting arena. Most often the former breed gets rejected because they are reluctant to pamper the party/s to purchase the tickets from and also the people, paving the way for the later to make their marks. There is a cardinal rule which says: ‘Those who want to do good and are genuine, will not pamper and pay to be elected’. They will want to be pushed ahead by those who want them to serve them. In Goa’s case, this cardinal rule has been mostly abused and therefore, we Goans have gotten rotten governments since 1963.
On the other side, take the case of political parties, how to differentiate from genuine ones and the fake as far as their intentions are concerned. Considering that before elections there are just two Platforms. [1] The People, and [2] The Party/s. The later woos, coaxes and cajoles, gives all sorts of promises, even pays for votes to get elected. The former, falling prey to the promises, and, most often the chanda component, take the trouble to stand in long queues to vote. After the counting of votes, a new and most powerful Third Platform arises which is the [3] The Government.
It is then the Politrics starts to play with the Platform No. 2 disappearing from sight and whose place is taken by Platform No.3. Those who had given promises and assurances from Platform No. 2 are now in this powerful Platform No.3, who now do not care for the promises and assurances earlier given. Their original agenda/s take over. They come out with things that were not in the list of promises, i.e. Mopa, Electronic City, Golf Courses, Mega residential condominiums, third and unnecessary bridges, etc. When people demand for sanitation and garbage clearance, markets, roads etc., they are told that there is no money. When asked for jobs, they demand Rs 15-20 lakhs. They take bribes from projects that are funded by other countries on 1% interest on loan on humanitarian grounds and even manage to stay out of jail when caught red-handed. When someone dear to the heart and soul of the people is done unto death and when they demand justice, they are rough shod, packed into police buses and sent to jails, irrespective whether they are young, old, male, female or senior citizens. Promises go through the window and arrogance creeps in. This is power in a democracy which is nothing but Dictatorship. Therefore to surmise, we, the people vote for Democracy before elections and what we get is dictatorship after elections.
At Goa Su-raj Party we have taken pains to change the above system which has been prevalent since 1963. In this System, the Platform No.2 does not disappear from sight along with the promises and assurances. In fact it stands up much higher between the Platform 1 and Platform 3, shielding the delicate and fragile Platform no 1 from the arrogance and high-handedness of Platform No. 3 so much so that Platform No. 1 does not at all need to talk to Platform No. 3. It talks to Platform No. 2 as this was the Platform that gave all the promises and assurances in the first place before elections. It is the duty of Platform No. 2 to get work done by Platform No 3 and just that, nothing more, nothing less. Therefore, the sorry tales that there is no money, the creeping of items that were not in the manifesto etc are out and the Real Effective Governance is in.
Coming 2016-17 Goa’s general elections where GSRP intends giving the Platform No. 1 more than 21 candidates to vote for, it is up to the this Platform No 1 to decide if it desires to install a flawless, Goa’s own high command in Goa for once, where it will not be necessary for some cook or a butler sitting in New Delhi, Nagpur or Baramati, in Maharashtra, to decide what Goans must have and what Goans must not have. All decisions pertaining to Goa’s affairs, viz. mining, Goa’s police reforms, Goa’s Law and Order, Goa’s infrastructural needs, whether to keep Dabolim as its sole international/domestic airport and scrap Mopa or not, whether the Indian Naval installation must shift to Karwar Sea Bird base from Dabolim or not, whether the Army’s Signal Headquarters and the Military Hospital will shift from Panjim or not etc., and most importantly, whether Goa’s bulging Public Debt which is standing at Rs 60,000 crore will be paid back to free Goa’s posterity of this terrible burden to cater for it future needs or not shall be decided in Goa once and for all.
(The author is the Founding Hon. GS Goa Environmental Action Group [1998] and Founding President of Goa Su-raj Party [2000])
