Source: The National,
“EVERY nation gets the government it deserves,” French philosopher and writer Joseph de Maistre wrote in 1811.
Variants of this statement have been attributed to later thinkers like Abraham Lincoln and Alexis de Tocqueville, who said something along the lines of, “In a democracy, people get the government they deserve, not the government they need.’’
This perhaps explains the nature and state of governments around the world, both in developed and in developing countries. Time after time, the same merry-go-round is played at election time in democracies everywhere.
In with the new, out with the old. Then the new becomes the old, and so on.
The memory of the voting public is stunningly short. Pro­mises made by parties and candidates before elections are soon forgotten, not just by those who make them, but even the recipients of the intended promises. New scandals emerge, leaders come and go, governments come and go and the status quo continues.
Occasionally, this merry march of mankind is rudely interrupted by bloody revolutions and the collapse of empires. Things settle down, for a few years or even for a few decades, before change comes along, at long last.
Next month, the people of Papua New Guinea have an opportunity to change their destiny through the ballot box. No election in the brief and tumultuous history of PNG is as significant as the one coming up. For once, there is a real opportunity for generational change.
The old guard has had its day. Now, it is the turn of the aspiring leaders of the future to step up to the plate and stake their claim. Some of them will get their opportunity to represent their people in Parliament at their very first attempt. Others will need to try several times before they get their chance.
Many of these aspiring new leaders would not even have been born at Independence in 1975. They have grown up in a free PNG. At least one that is free from the colonial yoke. But there are many forms of bondage, not least the crippling chains of poverty and exploitation.
These leaders-in-the-making should aspire to free their countrymen from hunger, illiteracy, unemployment, poor health and sub-human living conditions. These are basic human rights – food, shelter, education, a job and access to basic health care.
On health, while even countries like Afghanistan, Cambodia and Vietnam are seeing a sharp decline in maternal mortality rates, the statistics for PNG remain discouraging. Progress has been painfully slow and for many thousands of victims, too late.
On education, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill should be commended for his free education policy and for committing funds to it in the budget.
But as always, the devil is in the detail, and it remains to be seen whether the incoming go­vernment after the election will have the political will and the financial ability to carry through on this promise.
And assuming for a moment that the free education policy goes swimmingly, what about jobs for those who come out of the education pipeline?
Pardon the pun, but the PNG LNG project cannot and will not solve all the unemployment problems of PNG. Indeed, several such projects will not be able to do that.
What is needed is a diversified economy, with a strong emphasis on agriculture, the services sector and a tertiary education system that produces the doctors, nurses, health workers, teachers, technicians, engineers and many other skilled workers who will be needed to fuel the growth of the economy.
So when Papua New Guineans go to the ballot box next month, they should keep all these needs in mind when choosing their new representatives.
Forget the cash handouts, the free beer and cartons of tinned meat that candidates will offer as inducements. These will disappear even before the results are declared.
Think long-term. Do we want things to continue the way they always have been?
Surely, your vote is too precious to be wasted on frivolous items. Scrutinise every candidate on the list. It does not matter whether they are your wantok, tribesman or friend. Will they, once they are in Parliament, do what is right for and by their voters?
In saying all of the above, it is hoped that the elections will be, by and large, free and fair.
Of course it would be wishful thinking to hope for total security to be provided to voters, for there to be no intimidation or violence, and no electoral malpractice.
But if voters take a stand and refuse to engage in wrongdoing, such incidents can be kept to a minimum and the results will then be generally acceptable to all.
Elections are part of the social contract. If the intentions of the majority of voters and candidates are bona fide, then the outcome will be legitimacy, good governance and improved living conditions for all of society.
If, on the other hand, both voters and candidates wish to engage in fraud, corrupt behaviour, bribery and violence, we will see more of the same unwanted consequences that have arisen from all previous elections – lengthy court cases, tribal fighting and the election of leaders whose sole motive is to serve their own interests.
As the verse from the Proverbs painted on the signboard on the road leading to Parliament House says: “When the Righteous rule the people rejoice, when the wicked rule the people suffer.”
To this should also be added: “What ye (voters) sow, that shall ye also reap.”
If voters choose the wrong candidates, they will have only themselves to blame. And like they say at Christian weddings, if you don’t raise an objection when the celebrant asks the question before formalising a marriage, you should “speak up now or forever hold your peace”.
This election has been hard fought for. It is the answer to many a prayer, and the product of the pressure brought to bear by university students, grassroots, and many both within and outside PNG on the government to stick to the election timetable.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill deserves credit for standing firm on the poll schedule against those who wished to do otherwise.
Now, may the best candidates win.
lSanjay Bhosale, a former associate editor of The National, is a Canberra journalist.