NASS Elections and the Road To The Courts

It is no surprise that, for and against, there's been a mole hill or a mountain (depending on your perspective) of opinions, both informed and otherwise, about the election of principal officers at our bicameral legislative chambers. Some have made allegations, from the amusingly sublime to the utterly ridiculous, against parties on both sides of the divide in the most bilious terms possible. There's even been an attribution to karma in some cases and in other cases, to "cutting several over-bloated influential politicians to mouthful chunks." As many as there are armpits, there have been views.

What I've seen as the most overarching opinion is that the election was inherently flawed. Several reasons have been adduced to back this stance and some have alluded to the President's cautious remarks to back their stand that it wasn't fair enough and thus cannot and should not be.

No begrudging this stance. Good enough those so aggrieved have shown their desire to seek redress. And the proper mode of seeking redress in a disposition of democratic practice as ours is via the courts.

This is where the raison d'etre of this post lies. I always am excited by court cases (and it's not because of any truth-value, a virtue as alien to the courts as can be, nor is it because of any personal pecuniary rewards). No. Rather, it is because these cases not only enrich our legal system but the entire litigation process serves to inform the generality of the non-legal-educated public of the provisions of the law regarding said case(s) and how portions of the constitution that apply therewith are interpreted, explained and brought to bear on the case(s). This process brings the legalese to an easily comprehensible level for the mostly average Joe and allows us an opportunity of appreciating the law as it currently stands or immediately seeing loopholes that ought to be plugged by appropriate constitutional amendments.

By and large, the consequence will be a refining of our democratic practice in a way that ensures that as we mature as a democracy, some gaffes will either not recur or, should there be any recurrence, have appropriate legislation at hand to deal squarely with them.

So, anyone who feels that election at the NASS is a democratic aberration should quickly seek legal redress. Please. Hurry up, in fact.

I can't wait to read the proceedings from that one (or those ones). The wealth of knowledge I'd obtain? PRICELESS. I can't speak for anyone else, though.

Sorry.