At a time of intense political rivalry, the ruling front and the Opposition came together in a rare show of unity in the Kerala Assembly on Thursday to pass a resolution unanimously urging the Centre to urgently withdraw from the "fundamentally anti-democratic" attempt to implement the "One Nation One Election" (ONOE) project.
The resolution lists five major reasons why ONOE will weaken the powers and privileges of state assemblies, render local self-governments irrelevant, and, thus, do away with people's participation in the democratic process.
One, simultaneous elections are not consistent with the spirit of the Constitution and will lead to excessive centralisation. Two, it attempts to view Parliament, assembly and local body elections merely through the prism of expenditure. "When there are simpler and straightforward means to reduce election expenditure, this proposed reform takes the cover of expenditure to destroy the country's federal structure and challenge the supremacy of the people," the resolution says.
Three, the recommendation limiting the tenure of a central or state government formed as a result of a mid-term election would be the remaining period of a dissolved Parliament or state Assembly mocks at the proposal's need to reduce expenditure.
Four, ONOE strikes at the very foundation of the citizens' fundamental right to elect the government of their choice for a full term. Five, it is a wily attempt to undermine the country's socio-cultural and political diversity.
