RM awardee urges vigilance in 2004 polls

India’s chief election commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh exhorted Filipinos to be vigilant in ensuring a credible, fair and free election.

"Essentially, an alert citizenry is what counts," Lyngdoh, one of seven 2003 Ramon Magsaysay awardees said in a forum yesterday after delivering his lecture on "Building Faith in the Electoral Process" at the Ramon Magsaysay Center in Manila.

Lyngdoh won the 2003 Ramon Magsaysay award for government service for his "convincing validation of free and fair elections as the foundation and best hope of secular democracy in strife-torn India."

In the open forum, Lyngdoh reminded the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to enforce the "rule of conduct" during polls and strictly impose necessary sanctions for any misconduct.

Lyngdoh, 64, is known for his integrity and is reputed to be honest, straightforward and non-partisan.

As chief commissioner of the Election Commission (EC), he helped restore the confidence of 650 million voters in the electoral process amid India’s extreme ethnic diversity and deep social cleavages.

"If you do not have an independent election commission, you do not have a good election," Lyngdoh said in the open forum as he stressed the need for a "decisive and effective authority" to govern over the electoral exercise.

India’s Constitution provides for a non-partisan commission to conduct the electoral exercise.

The EC is tasked to ensure that India’s federal and state elections are "well-organized, free and fair" in the midst of "rising religious fundamentalism and raging communal hatred."

Lyngdoh called this "good fortune" for India because they do not have to consult with the government on the date that elections would be held among other pertinent election matters.

"We do this certainly on our own," he said in his lecture.

Lyngdoh also reminded his audience composed mainly of high school students from different schools to "provide the idealism" of the youth to the electoral process –the same advice he gave to the youth of India.

He said he recommended "tolerance, patience, basic honesty and ethics" for the young to imbibe.

"But to make themselves effective, they must more energetically pursue issue-based networking with superior courts, inquiry commissions, citizens’ committees, NGOs (nongovernment organizations), and the media," Lyngdoh said.

He said the public has to ensure that the election commission is "professional" and that "credible people" are appointed to run it.

Although civil servants may be perceived as having bias for the government, Lyngdoh, himself a former civil servant, said there is still a "small percentage of civil servants who are impartial" that could make the difference.

In the forum, he went on to remind the audience the importance of having to scrutinize the candidates and political parties of which leaders must be "democratically chosen by the party itself."

Of Kashi tribal origin, Lyngdoh hails from the extreme northeastern corner of India. Lyngdoh completed education in Dehli and entered the elite Indian Administrative Service when he was only 22 years old.

"Lyngdoh quickly became known for his probity and toughness and for favoring the underdog against politicians and the local rich," a citation for Lyngdoh said.

Lyngdoh’s clashes with the "powers-that-be marked his rise in the Service."

In 1997, Lyngdoh was appointed one of India’s three election commissioners by the HD Deve Gowda government. By 2001, he was chief of the Election Commission.

Lyngdoh is set to retire next February.

Tomorrow on the Ramon Magsaysay Awardees’ Lecture Series, another Indian national, Shantha Sinha will talk about "Promoting the Child’s Right to a Real Childhood."

Sinha is the recipient of the community leadership award for "guiding the people of Andra Pradesh to end the scourge of child labor and send all of their children to school."

The Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, was established in 1957 to honor the memory and leadership exemplified by the former Philippine president. It is awarded annually to individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest "the same sense of selfless service that ruled (Magsaysay’s) life." This year’s awardees join 229 other laureates to date. Each of them will receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the image of Magsaysay, and a cash prize to be formally conferred on Aug. 31 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.