Imperfect Democracy, Insoluble Problems
Any exercise in democracy without the participation of the people at the grassroots level is an exercise in futility. Democracy enjoins the continuous freedoms of expression and action, the process does not end by simply exercising the right to vote and giving away a mandate for the leaders to administer. Above all, only the absolute majority formed by that vote in any entity, may it be a constituency or the entire country, have a right to exercise that mandate. When a mandate is exercised by a minority faction having a majority due to an imperfect system as is usually the case, problems not only proliferate they multiply. The inter-action of insoluble problems in turn leads to disunity as each minority faction bands together in a bid for power and when they cannot get that power then out of sheer frustration, they try to secede from the union.
While nothing in life can really be perfect, unless we try and make our exercise in democracy close to near perfect, at least at the grassroots level, we may cease to exist as a nation. The aspiration for excellence can happen as an evolution of the present mandate i.e. if the rulers set about their task in a concerted manner and not spend their entire energies in seeking longevity. For the existence of the nation a period of authoritarian rule may well be necessary, it is better to have that rule than cease to exist as a national entity. There is a dire need to reform the system, particularly the electoral process. The idea should be to ensure that every individual in the country must feel that his or her participation is important and constant, that after exercising the vote once every four years, he or she does not become meaningless, at least till the next elections come around. This can only be done by making a pragmatic nation-structure that does not give lip-service only to democracy but inculcates the modicum of accountability that democracy enjoins along a broad spectrum at the very base of the system.
