C E R I Introduction

CERI

India is hailed as one of the largest democracies in the world. India has put in place a representative democracy. A key component of any representative democracy is its electoral system. India follows First Past The Post (FPTP) Majoritarian Electoral System (MES) just as it is being practiced in the US, United Kingdom etc. While the US and UK are still clinging on to two party system in their politics, India has already arrived at the age of coalition politics and is not any more guided by two party system. As against this, 21 out of 28 Western European nations have already shifted to the Proportionate Electoral System (PES) and many other countries in the world are transforming their electoral system into PES in order to give full representation to all citizens who vote. There is not a uniform way in the Proportionate Electoral System. In India, given the type of caste social organization the Majoritarian Electoral System serves well the purposes of dominant groups, as a simple majority of votes in any electoral district is enough to get a member elected leaving a vast majority of voters unrepresented in the Institutions and Mechanisms of governance. According to Arun Shourie 99% of the members got into the Lok Sabha by getting less than half the electors to vote for them. Almost 60% get in with the endorsement of less than 30% of votes in their constituencies. The unrepresentativeness of governments and legislators in the states is even greater. A case in focus is the BJP government in Karnataka

which has gained less percentage of votes than the Congress and with about 31% of votes has gained the authority, not yet majority, to govern the State. In 2001 both the AIADMK and the DMK parties in Tamilnadu got around 31% each but the DMK got only 31 seats while the AIADMK got 132 seats. In 2006 DMK got 26.5% of votes but 96 seats. The AIADMK got 32.6% of votes but only 61 seats. Therefore, one can reasonably understand the reluctance of the mainstream intelligentsia in India towards an electoral reform. However, the recent past has found a few scholars making serious studies on the Proportionate Electoral System in some countries of Europe. The present majoritarian electoral system in India has the following drawbacks.

1.Candidates get elected with a woeful minority of votes 2.Hence, the system gives the maximum inducement to leaders and candidates to address their appeal to narrower and narrower sections and in particular it fans casteism and communalism. 3.This leads to and has already led to splintering the electorate. From that to splintering the legislatures. Thence to splintering the Executive. The end result is that no one has enough power to get things done, everyone has enough power to block everything. 4.Every candidate has to depend on huge amounts of money. 5.He has to field muscle. Increasingly, entire parties have come to turn to violent groups for assistance. 6.The system does not yield the sorts of persons that are required for the complex task of governance. 7.It shortens the horizon of those who are in office when the problems that confront us, from national security to economic development, require that policies be sustained for decades. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was part and parcel of the transfer of power to Indians from the British in 1947 and who was also the Chairman of the Drafting committee of the present Constitution of India had argued for Separate Electorate for Dalits and succeeded to get it. Such a demand was placed before the British government in India within the purview of the Majoritarian Electoral System. Though the British government had granted Separate electorate to the Muslims, the Christians and the Dalits it was withdrawn from the Dalits because M K Gandhi went on a fast unto death against Separate Electorate for Dalits. After the death of Ambedkar Dalit Movements have been harping on the question of Separate Electorate for Dalits without realizing that Ambedkar himself changed his position in 1955, just a year before his death. He had passed the following resolution on 27 August 1955. “Separate Electorate or reservation of seats must not be restored to. It

would be enough to have plural member constituencies (of two or three) with cumulative voting in place of the system of single member constituency embodied in the present Constitution. This will allay the fears which the minorities have about linguistic states”. Drawing inspiration from this change of position in Ambedkar, some scholars in India have made studies on the Proportionate Electoral Systems in different countries of Europe. The Rural Education for Development Society and the Booshakthi Kendra in India have made a research on the Proportionate Electoral System as it is in German democracy and have published “Dalitocracy” as a result of their research. This was done after due reflection on the demand for separate electorate and the need for other viable alternatives. This research was supported by the Dalit Solidarity Platform of Germany. One need not conclude that India should take the German model of electoral system as it is, though one has to draw all possible lessons from the German Proportionate Electoral System as it has integrated all possible mechanisms to arrest any re-emergence of fascism in Germany. India is also badly in need of adapting an electoral system that will checkmate efforts to infuse Indian democracy with fascism. In the present electoral system inevitable coalitions are made after the elections are over, based purely on the issue of power sharing. The voters have no power to make their choice of coalitions that will be good for them. In such type of coalitions that are not based on voter choices, it is quite possible that smaller regional parties hold sway over governments with the type of numerical support they give to the coalition to come to power. Such democratic anomalies can be arrested with a sensible arrangement of the national/regional threshold in the PES. The MES is seat based and not vote based. The percentage of seats gained does not reflect the percentage of votes that a party gains. In the Proportionate Electoral System the percentage of votes gained will be the same as the percentage of seats that a party will have both in the Parliament and in State Assemblies.

CERI has been planned for a period of ten years Though the German model of proportionate electoral system was chosen for research,  CERI does not believe that it is ‘the’ solution to electoral reforms in India. From out  of the Campaign a model of proportionate electoral system that will be tailor made   for Indian situation will have to emerge. 

First Phase - 3 years 15 State Conferences 2 National Conferences 1 International Conference (Launching of Campaign)

While doing the general awareness creation in the whole country in the first phase the  Campaign will also involve many members of Parliament and State Assemblies.  Apart from these there will be direct contacts established with strategic centres like  Political   Parties   with   alternative   vision,   Social   Movements,   Research   Institutes,  Universities, Student and Youth Movements across  the  country and individuals of  exceptional commitment.   CERI is not an exclusively Dalit enterprise.  It will be a combined enterprise of  Dalits, Adivasis/Tribals, Minorities and Women of these communities and some  Most Backward Caste communities. After   the   first   phase,   the   strategic   focus   will   be   to   enter   the   Parliament   with   the  agenda of Electoral Reforms. This however, will be a ‘testing ground’ strategy and not  the final attempt. 

Second Phase – 3 years A team of experts will work on designing a Proportional Electoral System that will be  suitable for India. Based on this Document the Parliament of India will be urged to  take up serious discussions on Electoral Reforms in India. Key actors from different states will be identified during the first phase. The second  phase   will   activate   these   key   actors   of   the   Campaign   to   apply   pressure   on   the  Members of Parliament and Legislatures from their respective States to take up the  issue of electoral reform for discussion in the Parliament. 

Third Phase – 3 years The   Third   phase   will   be   the   final   assault   phase.   The   State   outfits   will   organize  mobilization  of   people   to  apply  pressure  on  the   Central  Government  for   electoral  reforms. The ownership of the campaign will be as widespread as possible.

Tenth Year The  tenth year of the campaign will be for tidying up the Campaign in terms of  bringing   the   many   initiatives   to   a   certain   level   of   logical   culmination.   This  culmination   will   not   be   the   dead   end   of   the   campaign   but   the   beginning   of   the  fructification of the campaign. 

Till Now 1. A   Research   has   been   done   on   the   German   Electoral   System   and   as   a  consequence the book Dalitocracy, Theory and Praxis of  Dalit Politics has  been widely distributed for general education.  2. CERI   has   already   organized an   International  Conference   to  arrive  at   more  conceptual clarity based on the experience in different countries of the world. 3. A National Conference has also been conducted in Delhi 4. Three   State   Conferences   have   been   completed   in   Rajasthan,   Manipur   and  Tamilnadu and in the next few months three more State Conferences have been  slated.  5. The Communist Party of India has officially declared its support to CERI in  the State Conference of Tamilnadu. Mr. Sitaram Yechury, Mr. D Raja and the  Prime   Minister   of   Nepal   are   expected   to   Inaugurate   the   International  Conference in Nepal. 6. Many Intellectuals from North Eastern States have started openly saying that  Proportionate Electoral System may be the only solution to the stalemate in  democratic functioning in their region.  

7. A four days of lobbying in the State of Tripura matured into a planning for  State Conference 8. Dalit Panthers of Kerala have taken up leadership for the Campaign in Kerala   9. A Core Group of 15 State Coordinators has been put in place 10. Translation of Dalitocracy into Hindi, Manipuri, Telugu and Tamil languages  is going on 11. A European tour for lobbying on the Campaign was taken up in a successful  way in April 2009.  12. Intensive planning for Karnataka Conference is going on  13. Negotiations have been successfully completed for the launching of the Nepal  Chapter of CERI under the leadership of Ms Durga Sob of FEDO in Nepal. 

While this will be a work of REDS, Ms Durga Sob is being strongly supported  by   the   Election   Commissioner   of   Nepal   and   the   Network   of   Dalit  Organizations. 

What More •

There will be an International Conference in Nepal on 21 and 22 of November  2009

•

The Core Group of CERI will meet for three full days in Kathmandu prior to  the International Conference to work intensively on the Campaign Manifesto  of CERI. 

•

A   Three   Member   Research   Team   is   taking   up   a   research   on  the   Electoral  System   of   Norway,   which   has   given   constitutional   recognition   to   the  indigenous   Sami   Parliament.   This   research   will   take   place   from   09   to   18  September followed by discussions with the European Lobbyists of CERI.

•

The   same   Team   will   take   up   another   research   on   the   Mixed   Member  Proportionate Electoral System of New Zealand, which has made a provision  for Separate Electorate for the Indigenous Maori people in the model of the  German Electoral system.

•

A Team of CERI Experts will be set up to bring out a policy document on a  tailor­made   electoral   system   for   India.   These   experts   will   be   drawn   from  countries of Europe and Asia.

What Can you do Become a member of CERI

Participate in State and National Conferences Study more about Proportionate Electoral Systems in different countries of the world Organize study circles to look into the positive and possible negative effects of PES Organize local seminars and workshops on Electoral Reforms Disseminate information far and wide Mobilize International Solidarity and support to the Campaign.  Become active in the Interactive Website of CERI Write articles and letters to Newspapers Sensitize both the visual and print media on publicizing the cause of PES Write on your own individually and in groups to the President and Prime Minister of 

India Decentralize the whole Campaign and do not wait for a central direction for action.  Become an Opinion Leader for Proportionate Representation System in India Contact for More Details The Coordinator CERI Rural Education for Development Society REDS Road Shanthinagar Tumkur 572102 Karnataka – India Mobile: ++91­9880842384 Fax: ++91­816­2272515 Email: [email protected] Website: http//:www.ceri.in