On this date exactly a month from now we will know how we have voted. At the end of that day in March we may not have a government.
March 11, is a few days from the Ides of March (believed on March 15), the day which became the turning point of Roman History, upon the assassination of Julius Ceasar. The Ides of March has since then become an expression to depict massive changes and not always positive ones.
The results may not quite conclude the election process but commence a very retrograde replay of the past where the pulls and pitfalls of a power trip will leave no time to think of manifestos or promises. And then almost immediately the new government if formed quickly enough will barely have two weeks to present a budget. If the government changes this becomes doubly difficult.
Parties serious about coming to power need to use this month to prepare. Almost like school children many candidates took the first flight out on the morning of February 5 like many children do when examinations get over. With results that will go down to the wire, it will be prudent for parties to start preparing for governance. Even in a case of failure to form a government, parties must use this to play an effective role in the term of the next government.
While these steps are hardly taken by political parties, and that too before the election results are out, preparing for transition isn’t such a bad thing. Let us assume that either the Congress or the BJP will play a significant part in the next government, either on their own or in alliance with another party. Both parties need time for preparation in order to deliver on their manifesto. There are critical burning issues that need to be addressed, the economy needs to be brought back on track, collapsed institutions need to be rebuilt and finances have to be injected through raising of revenues. Parties must commence this exercise. And a prepared party, even when it fails to be in power will become a well prepared opposition which will set the agenda for the opposition and put the government on the defensive from day one.
There can be no debate or negotiation on this. The next government will have to do all about governance and the key to deliver that has to be a vigilant opposition or the people. The ruling party, can of course, do the unthinkable and go headlong into working on the manifesto, but seasoned political watchers in Goa have seen, that this seldom happens.
But this is a discourse that next generation in the main parties must steer. In each constituency, the next party MLA or the defeated party candidate must head a constituency team to work on local promises for the constituency while a state wide team constituted by the state unit should get to work only on delivering promises must work with ministers if the party wins, or team of experts who will function as shadow ministers, if the party loses. The constituency belongs as much to the winning MLA as to those who got sufficient votes but lost.
Contrary to what we think, there is greater need on planning for the future, in a very limited time. Energies must be focused on what needs to be done post March 11. Much more than argue about whether the Assembly needs to be called now or the House dissolved, the foundations for future governance needs to be laid now.
