Friday, March 30, 2018

A better way to implement democracy

Is there a better way to implement democracy around the world?

In many countries, the existing government "cheated" by redrawing the electorial boundaries to ensure that they have a better chance of winning the next general election. It is called "gerrymandering".

In some cases, they give money or goodies to the poor people to buy their votes. The poor people are usually illiterate or politically naive.

In some cases, they stuff the ballot boxes with fake votes in their favor. Or they simply replace the actual ballot boxes with the fake ones containing fake voting slips in their favor.

Even in a country that is regarded as the "bastion of democracy", their system is influenced by large sums of money that is spent on advertising to influence the voters using untruths. The candidates with the most campaign funds usually win. Their elections are "bought" with money.

What is the purpose of this "democratic process" which can be abused in many countries to perpetuate a regime for several decades?

When is the purpose of allowing each person to have a vote when that person is not educated or mature to exercise the vote correctly?

Is there a better way to exercise democracy?

I want to make a statement that will surprise many people. A good example of effective democracy is ...... China.

Why do I say so?

In China, the leaders are elected through voting by members of the communist party. These members or cadres are educated on the principles that govern their party, which are also the same principles enshrined in their constitution. All countries have a constitution that lay down the principles for which their country should be governed. China is also following the same approach.

The main difference is that the principles enshrined in the constitution in China are different in some respects from the principles enshrined in the constitution of America. But it does not make the consitution of China worse than America. In fact, the development of China showed that their approach is more effective in uplifting the well being of their people.

I am not saying that the system in China will continue to be better over the long term. But we can see that it is better for the past few decades.

I will now deal with the argument that their leaders are voted only by the members or cadres of the communist party. In my view, this is a better system.

To earn the right to vote, the voter must be educated in the constitution of the country. This is a requirement for all members of the party. They have to be educated in these matters. Being educated, they can make better decisions.

The communist party has more than 100 million members. This is more than the voting population in most "free countries" where every citizen (including the uneducated ones) is allowed to vote.

The leaders of the communist party are elected through a democratic system that is exercised at different layers - the villages, counties, provinces and at the national level. The leaders elected at each level become the voters at the next higher level. This system is quite democratic.

I am not saying that the system in China is free of corruption. On the contrary, it has been riddled with corrupt practices in past years. This disease is now being addressed by the current leaders.

I hope that they will succeed, and that there is a clean process of electing the right leaders for the country and, after being elected, they will use their powers with honesty and integrity and make the right decisions for their countries.

Even the principles of the community party and the constitution of the country can be changed to allow the country to move forward. If you recall, there was a seismic change when the communist party decided to adopt "free market economics" in a socialist system. It turned out to be the best strategy for China.

There is a risk that the people elected under the communist system can become dictators. This has happened in past years under many communist countries. But there are also many dictators who are elected under the non-communist system aslo. Dictatorship is not a monopoly of the communist system.

I hope that people will realize that the system that is now adopted in China is more democratic and better than the systems of "free elections" adopted by most non-communist countries.

Tan Kin Lian

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