A Political Party?
N.I. Issue No 72: February 1979
How can money make a country more democratic? Not by spending it on election carnivals says the Bombay magazine Onlooker. Conservative estimates put the cost of the recent Indian mid-term election at 3,000 million Rupees($375 million). Amongst other things this paid for 12,800 kms of cloth used as banners - all together long enough to stretch around the world. Onlooker also calculated that the power used to blare politicians speeches over loudspeakers would have been enough to run 4000 water pumps at maximum capacity. It's the same story for the gallons of diesel fuel used to carry the politicians and their agents on campaign tours.
All very necessary for proper democratic participation? Perhaps. But expensive elections alone don't make a democracy. While the elections were being held, about one third of the country was drought stricken. The government spent only half as much fighting that crisis as it did financing the elections. While the Election Commission proudly claimed that there was a polling booth within two kilometers of every voter, more than 100,000 villages were without clean water. Even in ordinary times a four kilometer walk to fetch water is normal. In the face of such day-today hardships elections are nothing to celebrate.
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
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