Why do politicians renege on their commitments made under much fanfare to their constituents?

During an election politicians make several promises to the constituents, from many a platform for improvements to their lives.  They visit them in their homes and talk of the many changes necessary; they hug babies, the old and the sick giving them the hope that the angel in their image will come with a wand to swipe away their woes. They present a whole bagful of wish list, which they assure their constituents, they will fulfill if they are given the opportunity to serve them. The politician portrays himself as the hope for all times; vote them in and everything will be fine from then on….

The bewildered citizen has to make a choice among the numerous bidders for their franchise, the only tool in their hand to fight poverty in health, housing, education, lawlessness, injustice….  The more persuasive one wins the vote; it can, however, never be ascertained if the vote is cast after careful perusal of the options presented to them.  

At last when the representative is elected a simple contract is understood to have been made; an understanding that the elected member will uphold the pledges made to the voters. People live in hope. But too often the promises are never fulfilled to the satisfaction of the people. The most recent example is of the pledges made in 2015, many of them not tackled at all even after three years with only two more to go. Instead many Commissions are set up to camouflage the  gap between promise and fulfillment! Not taking responsibility does not absolve anyone. Why does this happen time and again? How do the people permit them to be taken for a ride like this? Promises are made and promises are not kept.  This charade goes on and on…………..

One reason for this is that no sooner is a representative elected he gets placed in a more exalted position; he is no longer considered an equal of the citizen, the man who elected him.  The direct communication line between the elector and elected is severed and several people are positioned to intervene between the representative and the people.  Once the close link in communication is severed an unequal position in the social standing between the two partners emerges, which creates a non -bridgeable gap.  The objective of service to the people, high in importance in the dialogue, at the time of the election, dims in significance post -election.  The twain no longer meet with the earlier frequency for the politician now moves on a tract that serves him and his family and acolytes best.  Selfish personal interest is the propellant that moves him.  As he gets increasingly isolated from the people he finds kindred spirits among other fellow representatives travelling on the same path and together they look inwards to seek answers for their future role.  Fuelled by greed the representative begins to ponder why he should confine himself to one or two terms in his elected position instead of making the choice to extend his tenure to longer periods.  Why not? With the fruition of this wish is born the professional politician.

How is it possible to have people accede to this illiberal intrusion, of the professional politician, into the democratic process? The citizens having exhausted their one powerful tool, the franchise, become helpless to question the politician or make a decision contrary to that of the politician post elections.  Peoples’ dependence syndrome is such that their options are limited and they passively accede to whatever comes their way.  The power of the politician and the political mafia takes on a bulldozer effect and anything seems possible to secure, for them by them. This puts a break in the empathy built between the politician and the citizen.They live in different worlds which makes it easier for the politician to renege on promises made.

Greed transforms representative into an egotistical person.

The ensuing disconnect between the elected representative and the electors work adversely for the people. The latter remain in a stagnant position. By now the politician is fully immersed in subjectivity and has no time to work towards the improvement of the lives of his constituents as his concerns are directed largely to improve his fortunes.  Corrupt and fraudulent methods are the chosen tactics to achieve their mission.  The tendency to abuse power and short circuit the system to accumulate wealth and influence becomes acceptable to his colleagues as well.  While on this path the politician has to ensure that there can be no call for transparency or accountability. The representative is no longer the people’s man; instead he remains transformed into an egotistical being, no longer in a compelling mood to fulfill his promises to the people.

Privileges

The professional politician in Sri Lanka is showered with many privileges regardless of the fact that many of them have not ‘earned’ the right to claim any privileges at all.  These privileges seem to create fantasies in the minds of the representatives.  Soon enough they begin to fancy themselves as an exclusive breed much more special than the people they have been elected to serve.  Their ego grows in leaps and bounds, now allowing citizen Perera only a distant glimpse of his would be benefactor. The backslapping bonhomie among the citizens and their representatives are decidedly over.

Discontent results in conflict

Nothing stays static and over a period of time the plight of the people become aggravated.  The indifference of the elected representative to the woes of the people begin to affect the community.  Gradually desperation sets in and discontent jells into protest movements and the youth take to the vanguard of revolt. The latter with customary impatience take to violent means to overthrow the government even as it happened in 1971, 1983 and 1989. Economic issues and ethno centric issues that had been on the broil for many years surface to the forefront and provide the platform for the social upheaval that grounds the liberal democratic state and ushers in the era of violence.  When communion of interest and interaction between the elector and elected is loosened governments tend to move towards tyranny.  From past records and from even the recent trends it is more than evident that disconnect between the people and their representatives creates the ground for authoritarianism as well as for divisive politics which ends up in political amnesia to the politician who breaks his contract with the people.

Violence and security for politicians          

Violence is directed at the political figures cited as the irresponsible persons who are seen to be fiddling while the nation is in turmoil.  The representatives become vulnerable and are often targeted by the rebels to expend their wrath on them for the lack of commitment to the promises given to the citizens.  Therefore it becomes imperative that they be given armed security and back up cars to protect them from possible harm. In fact to protect them from their failure to tackle problems they are confronted with or created by them.  Unfortunately what was meant as a temporary security measure for the duration of hostilities gets transformed to be a part of the regalia of an elected representative used also as a scale to measure one’s importance as well. The gauge on this scale is measured in terms of the number of cars and the number of security personnel at the disposal of an MP.  When the MP or Minister gets on to the streets, the cavalcade one sees on the road demands maximum space for their getaway; numerous security personnel to direct traffic and man the streets to avoid the ‘terrorists’.  

Privileges create barriers and the voices of the people go unheard.

Other vehicles and pedestrians on the path of the politician are shoved off the road, often into the gutter for want of space. People fear the security personnel; guns talk and silence the talkative; therefore people listen to their bidding often grudgingly.  The worst consequence is that it puts further distance between the people and their representatives.  A great barrier is erected between citizen Perera and the MP denying the effective run of the initial contract that calls for the two partners to work in close proximity. The people can no longer keep a watchful eye on their MP or can the latter hear and respond to the voices of the people.  Thus when politics ceases to be service and becomes career it also becomes antithetical to a responsive democracy.

Political parties a distraction

 The politicians’ sustainability depends on his ability to retain his vote base.  In this preoccupation they are assisted by the political parties to which they subscribe to. The political parties in the initial stages of its formation represent an ideology that helps to gather like minded people together as a group. With the party in its transformed role as a tool of the politician, as it seems to exist in the modern context, the role is confined merely to keep the politician on the mount.  Many of the political parties play a significant role in crafting divisive power play merely to garner votes.  The rich poor divide, the low and upper caste dilemma, race, religious conflicts, all play an important role.  People are misled and even if they are aware of the incorrectness in a certain approach they make no dissenting voice for the sake of party loyalty.  Ethical and moral values are abandoned.  In this context very few are there to take up cudgels when people are led on the wrong policy path- Political parties remain not to empower the people but to meekly serve the politician creating a growing gap between the elector and the elected.

Is it possible to make the politician responsive to the people?

For a start it is imperative that the professional politician who is intent on making politics his career should be discouraged. At the initial stages one contends with a single person; with time family and associates intrude to share in the spoils and then imperceptibly the inheritance code gets set in place.  Institutions are set up to play the buffer role and loyalists are installed to man them. Friends and sycophants abound and often find key roles in this power play to strengthen the position of their leadership. This imposes a heavy toll on the government as the additional staff have to be salaried and the emoluments had to be on a high scale as they are the politicians ‘persons’.  A sort of permanent government gets installed which excludes the common man who in fact should have been the catalyst for the system.

The professional politician by the very nature of the role he plays moves away from the concerns of the people: their interests, their values and their routine experiences.  At this point the politician can no longer be called a representative of the people for he is not responsive to people’s voices; the links are loosened and the politician remain detached from the voters in sentiment and in experience.  The government is well on the path of authoritarianism. People pale in significance.

Incumbency detracts new entrants to office- Term limitation essential.

Longevity in office by those elected blocks the path of fresh entrants with new ideas that can bring about modernization to the system, greater efficiency and quicker pace to the governing process.  To secure career politicians from blocking new entrants coming into the system, imposing a term limitation for the representative appears to be the preferred option.  The representatives who gets out of office after serving (perhaps) two terms should return to their home base, get on with the jobs that they were involved with prior to their election to office and spend time with the constituents to refresh their minds on their needs, what they have received and what has been promised and not implemented. Anyone who stays long in positions of power, let alone a politician, tends to side track the system from its legitimate role and let it work for one’s own interests to the disadvantage of the many.  It must be emphasized that security of tenure of the representative makes it possible to digress from the needs of the people and adopt other agenda that is beneficial to them personally.  If however rotation is imposed it could reduce the temptation for corruption and abuse of power as a direct consequence of their long stay in the administration.  With new recruits it is possible to rekindle people’s interest as priority number one for the representatives.

People’s apathy to existing procedures

Many of the youth are growing indifferent to the distorted political play in the country. Studies on youth behavior have shown that the young men and women are hostile to the present governance style; disappointed they expect nothing from the system and find it a waste of time and effort to even register their names in the electoral list. This however should not be the attitude for the youth of the country to adopt because whether they like it or not they remain the backbone of the next generation.  Considering the strategic importance of their role they should get into the vanguard of action to ensure that people are empowered with the correct information so that their choice at elections will be based on well informed assessment of the agenda is presented. This will help people to make appropriate decisions on the candidate to be elected and not be duped by the career politician who entices them by holding out promises to do many programs for the betterment of the people. With the capacity to make informed assessment of the candidates vying for the vote the possibility of curbing the tendency to authoritarianism can be pruned at the outset. 

It is also an absolute necessity to stop people from thinking that anyone and everyone has the aptitude to be a representative of the people. It is this that has permitted laxity in the choice of the candidate in the belief that even a person without education or very low level of education or work experience in the public service can be elected if a political party supports him or if he has made the people sufficiently gullible to vote for  him.  The interest of the leaders is confined by and large to have the numbers to pass legislation and to keep them in power, the role of the ordinary MP to be confined to a mute presence while also accepting as inevitable the inadequacy of a poorly qualified legislator to understand the proceedings in Parliament or to comprehend the intricacies in the legislation presented for the vote. The uneducated or poorly educated legislator is the reality of the times.

If there is a proactive civil society this can be corrected.  The complexity of issues in the modern times has to be studied and translated in a way for all to comprehend and act in the governance process. This is what will make an intelligent constituency and keep democracy secure.  The people’s value systems have to be reinvigorated so that the moral aspects of governance can be secured. Society will then become accountable and look upon with horror at the way politicians enrich themselves and adopt ostentatious life styles and often LIE to confuse the people. Today the public is seen as docile supplicants paying obeisance to the rich and powerful without questioning the source of their newfound wealth.

A moral overview is vital to prevent corruption and concentration of power within the close linked circle to the leadership.  It is vital that we develop a sense of morality and sensitivity to issues confronted in society. The media, intellectuals, religious leaders and civil society organizations must actively participate in getting the governance process on the rails.  All the major religions are practiced by the respective followers in this country. It is incumbent that instead of paying lip service to religious teachings people are trained to live by the teachings to which they belong that will enable society to pursue moral and ethical lives.  Society will in time begin to value morality in their day to day lives. The patronage system of the professional politician can be curbed and democracy installed once again and a responsive manner and responsible representative set in place.