Election and Governance

Election and Governance

They are not contradicting terms but are mutually reinforcing concepts. Election and governance are two sides of a coin. Elections are directed towards governance. On the other hand, the quality of elected administrators and their leadership styles are shown by the manner by which they conducted their campaign during elections. The relationship between the two is not difficult to figure out.

            

           Ideally, elections are indispensable for the workings of democracy. No democratic government would exist without elections. No good governance is possible without them. But before elections may serve as precursor of political change, they should be free, honest and meaningful.

A free election means that people should not be prohibited from voting freely according to their conscience. No bribery, coercion and violence should be allowed to subvert their right of choice. Free election entails the judicious use of State power to dismantle all armed groups that could be used to coerce voters and to prevent politicians and moneyed interests from buying votes and polluting the electoral process. Sadly, vote buying and terrorism continue to hit the headlines in today’s elections.   

An honest election means that the electoral process should be efficient and transparent. Elections are trustworthy if they are conducted with speed and transparency—that is, if the reliability and accuracy of the casting and canvassing of votes are assured. These criteria determine whether we shall have an honest election. Unfortunately, the lack of transparency in the canvassing of votes via the PCOS machine continues to put doubt on the efficiency and transparency of our electoral processes.

A meaningful election highlights the purpose and relevance of the electoral exercise to the lives of the people. An election is meaningful if people are given the best choices and the opportunity to make such choices. It entails unabated opportunity for discussion of issues, platforms and programs It means that debates and discussions during the campaign must transcend personal issues and reach the more programmatic level where there is a healthy and open discussion of issues and programs.

With the quality of candidates that we have today, one can tell whether there will be significant changes in Philippine governance after elections. After all, elections reflect that character of the future that we are making.

           

              Truly, everything starts with a decision to take the first step. Vote wisely they say and you shall have a wise government. However, with the problems confronting our elections today, voting wisely is not enough; rather, we should study why our electoral process is malfunctioning and decide how to fix it. A revolution of the electoral process and not merely a piecemeal effort to reform it might actually be the answer that we are looking for.