We need urgent and radical electoral reforms. As Politics is no longer a mission but has become a profession, there must be a retirement age mandated by law. The law should also prescribe minimum educational qualifications for those contesting elections.
We need to amend the law to ensure that political morality prevails. The Anti-defection law came into force in 1985 to deter the endemic political defections by legislators who are motivated by the lure of office and monetary gains. The intent of the law was to prevent corruption by way of horse-trading and to debar defecting MPs and MLAs from holding public office for five years and from contesting the next election if they defect.
Not to defeat the very intent of the law, there is a need to ensure that election petitions and more particularly those relating to the Anti- Defection law should be decided very expeditiously in a time bound manner by an independent authority. It must be ensured that those elected are held accountable for their deeds and misdeeds.
Ethics should always be an integral part of politics and Citizens should expect ethical behavior from the political leadership. Lawmakers have a fundamental and moral duty to lead by example and must never be law breakers or abuse the trust that people have vested in them. Authentic leadership can only be practiced through ethical Governance.
