In the past, conducting an assembly election was a mammothtask, a logistical nightmare. So, it was a practical solution to hold electionsevery 5 years.
This provided a level of stability to the government to take along term view on all important policy decisions without having to worry aboutthe short term impact these decisions could have on the government.
However, I think it is time for us to sit back and re-lookat the past and see if this model still works for us or should we re-look atthe term of office for these elected representatives. Some questions that areworth asking are:
- What would happen if we change the term of office to 2 or 3 years insteadof 5? Will this affect the decisions being made?
- What if the elected representative is not actively working for thecommunity post his election? Should the constituency suffer for 5 full years ofnegligence or should they have a right to fire the representative and call for afresh election (even mid-term)?
- What impact will this change in terms have on the scams? Will theyincrease or decrease?
- Is it best for us to have a combination of the ideas (5 year term for thegovernment & ability for the constituency to fire an elected candidatemid-term if he/she fails to perform his duties well?
With the technological advances, it has become much easierfor us to hold elections more often than in the past.
Would you want to fire your MP or MLA if he/she fails to do her duty as the elected representative?
