Political systems Get rid of political parties

I wish to discuss a system of electing community leaders and law makers that is not based on political parties.

I shall refer to them as community leaders, and use the term to include the law makers, i.e. the people who pass the law in the national parliament.

I wish to avoid using the term "politician". I wish to get away from the concept of fighting for "political power". I prefer to focus on the concept of leading and serving the community.

What is wrong with electing politicians based on political parties? In my view, this is the source of political corruption. Under this system, a group of people get together in a political party and fight to gain political power.

They pass the laws and appoint the government ministers to run ministries with large budgets. They have the opportunity to enrich themselves through corrupt means. 

If they are not elected through a political party, how can they be elected?

In my view, they should be elected base on their personal qualities. The candidates are likely to be people who have a track record in serving the community.

This person could be a doctor, lawyer, business owner or public servant who is known in the community.

Being elected on his (or her) own merit, and not through a political party, his behavior and actions are likely to be made in the interest of the public good. He does not have to make deals with the party leaders to remain selected on the party slate.

What is the motivation of the people who come forward to stand for election as community leader? The key motivation should be a willingness to serve the community and the public recognition that come with the office. 

Should this community leader serve in a full time capacity? We can provide an option. If it is a full time service, it should come with a compensation that is adequate to sustain the family. 

It can also be a part time service where the community leader can appoint an assistant (who is paid from public funds) to do the full time work. 

I now come to the question of who has the power to vote. In most countries a citizen above the specified voting age has the right to vote. This voting age could be 21 years or 18 years. 

I prefer a system where the voting age is raised to a higher age, for example 35 years. Being older, the voter is likely to be more aware about the needs of the community and the people who are standing up for election as community leaders. 

There is no need to give young people the right to vote at an early age. In most cases, the are not familiar with the needs of the community and to make a right choice.

There is no harm to ask them to wait until they reach an older age. Everybody will get the chance to vote but they have to wait until they are older.

Even if the voting age is raised to 35 years, there will be more than a million voters in a country like Singapore. This number is large enough to form an acceptable base for the election of the community leaders.

Is there a danger that the needs of young people will be neglected when the voting age is raised? I do not think so.

I am sure that the elected community leaders will exercise their decisions based on the needs of people of all age groups, rather than of the older people. They are likely to have children and young adults in their households.

What about voters who are uneducated or too frail to vote? I think they should be given the option not to vote. Most of them are probably not interested to vote anyway.

Voting should be voluntary and not compulsory. There is no point in forcing a person to vote when they are not interested to exercise this right.

Is there a risk that some voters might be bribed or enticed financially to vote for certain candidates? I believe that this risk is minimized when the candidates are  being elected on their personal merit and through a political party.

What about the election of ministers, the prime minister or the president with executive power?

I prefer that these office bearers should be elected by the community leaders, or the law makers. These elected leaders are probably more qualified to know who should be elected into these officers. 

These office bearers do not need to come from the pool of elected community leaders. They can come from outside. However, they have to be selected by a panel of community leaders and approved by the general body.

I now address the issue of an elected community leader who serves full time for a term and is subsequently not re-elected. As he has given up a full time job, it may be difficult to get back into the old job.

We need to take care of the financial needs of their family, so that people are willing to come forward to serve as full time community leaders. 

One way is to reserve public sector jobs for these ex-community leaders at least for a term of two to four years. This will give them the chance to re-transition to a job in the private sector.

I have written this essay to present an alternative approach towards governing a country. My alternative approach is to replace "party politics" with the concept of "serving the community".

I hope that you like this idea.

Tan Kin Lian

 

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