|
New Delhi: Chief
Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi Thursday opposed the idea of
introducing compulsory voting, saying it was "neither desirable
nor feasible".
"Democracy and compulsion don't go together," Quraishi said at a
press conference called to release consultation papers on
electoral reforms.
Quraishi said that educating people was a better option than
making voting compulsory for bringing people to the polling booth.
The just-concluded Bihar assembly elections witnessed an increase
in the voter turnout by 16 percent, he said, citing it as an
example of voter education.
Among other issues, the consultation papers dwell on the subject
of criminalisation of politics, role of money power, state funding
of political parties during elections, adjudication of election
petitions and review of the anti-defection law.
Referring to the consultation papers, Law Minister M. Veerappa
Moily said that in the last six decades, there were piecemeal
attempts to reform the electoral system.
Admitting that there was no unanimity over the reforms, he said
that political consensus on the issue could only be arrived at by
building public opinion.
"Strong public opinion will force the political parties to change
their stand," Moily said.
Quraishi said that the entire world was baffled by the way
elections were held in India and results declared within 12 hours
from the commencement of the counting.
But at the same time, we had to hang our heads in shame when asked
about the presence of criminals in our legislatures, he said
Quraishi regretted that all the political parties in unison
rejected the Election Commission's proposal not to give tickets to
criminals accused of heinous crimes.
The law ministry is holding seven regional conferences on
electoral reforms starting with Bhopal Dec 12, 2010. The other
conferences will be held in Kolkata, Bangalore, Guwahati, Mumbai,
Lucknow and Chandigarh.
The regional conferences will culminate in a national consultation
conference in New Delhi April 2-3, 2011.
A core committee of nine eminent lawyers and other experts has
been set up to act as a nodal agency for comprehensive electoral
reforms. Additional Solicitor General Vivek Tankha is the
committee chairman.
|
Comments
|
Quick links