Election Process in Liberal Democracy: A Road Talk with an Unidentified Man

Democracy is not a single event of time or incident but a regular process. So the process of its reformation is also regular work.

Even with the decades-long practice of democracy, Eastern countries are not able to bring cleanliness to the system. An old man with a wrinkled face told a real story of foul play during the political election. If we accept the direct monarchy, which was a feudal type of autocratic system up to 1990; aftermath I rarely saw fair elections, but the first election that the Maoist party was the distorted election in the name of democracy – he said with a satirical smile. Balance of Power, timely election, the rule of law and transparency are the basic foundations of democracy, but beliefs are always violated. I felt that the aged man was well known about democracy. Amid the talk, he said that he was also a contestant in a local election.

 At that moment, the rain started to fall. He put an umbrella on it to avoid the rain. He was speaking in his style, "though the constitution allows the right to be a candidate in the election, a common citizen can not compete for the election because it is too expensive." He paused with a long breath. 'Tell me is it a democracy? " He shoots a question at me. "I also sold my ancestral land to compete in that local election but I lost."  I saw the pain in his face. "Honesty, capability and knowledge are not criteria to be a candidate in democracy, but the capacity to expend money in the election is the only criteria"-he was grumbling. The rain was falling. He suddenly stood with an open umbrella in his right hand. I asked him to sit down and wait to stop. He sat down again at my request. "Democracy is being rendered hijacked by black money holders. They use punks, crooks and musclemen to fear people in the election. The mainstream media also raises propaganda to divert public sentiment in the wrong direction. This chain is very strong to manipulate public opinion. Is this also a democracy? " He stood hastily in an angry mood and went on. I was looking at him until he vanished from my sight. I don’t know why he was not ready to give his identity. In his respect, I also not give any special location or any indication of his identity here. It was an unexpected meeting for me. I did not find any fault in his experience.

 

Whenever democracy loses its values, it turns into anarchy. Nepal is also facing such a type of situation now. Amid the Covid19 pandemic, political parties and government are involved in the filthy practice. Being the largest democracy, India is seen under the shadow of anarchy.

    

Nowadays, the citation of Abraham Lincoln "To the people for the people by the people" has been remembered as the easy definition of democracy. With the growing practice of liberal democracy in the contemporary world, America as a Superpower has also become a pivot of modern democracy. The class-based dictatorial democracy went into a coma up to 1990. The gap was unilaterally filled by liberal democracy. Over the twentieth century, liberal democracy beat the drum of success, but with the election of Donald Trump to the White House, anarchism began to infiltrate American humble democracy. Liberalism was a reformed Theory of conservative Capitalism and was also a concept of the economy. The wave of Marxism compelled it to be moderated as liberalism. In later decades, liberalism also changed under the banner of Neo-liberalism.

 

Democracy is not a new theory of the world. In different parts of the world during the ancient period, a general type of democracy was prevalent in small types of clans and communities. In Jambudeepa (Indian Peninsula) Lichhavi and Sakya ganarajya (Republics), the capitals of these republics were Baisali and Kapilavastu respectively were enjoying absolute democracy in 4 century BCE. It was the time of Lord Buddha. He also belongs to the Sakya Republica. Around the same time, the norms of self-ruling democracy were followed in Athens (Greece). The Magdh king Ajatasatru attacked the Lichhavies. The democratic system of rule was destroyed and converted into the Magadh Empire under the Monarchy.

According to the ancient Greek Philosopher, Aristotle-Democracy means the rule by many. With time, the definition of democracy has also evolved. At this time, the world is dominated by western types of democracy, which are based on a power balance between state organs such as the Executive, Judiciary, and Legislature. Transparency and responsibility are also added to the character of the ruling process in a modern democracy.

 

I often remember that old man and his noble concern for democracy. It is necessary to clear inconsistencies for a healthy democracy.