Opinion: It’s time India followed ‘primaries’ system to select candidates for elections

With the parliamentary elections round the corner, the political parties are busy selecting their candidates for various constituencies. Without an exception, all political parties face a tough time selecting candidates for the parliamentary elections. National and regional parties face the difficulty of choosing an appropriate candidate for the constituencies.

In the recent past, potential and aspiring candidates were asked to submit an application form, they were then interviewed by the party leaders and based on various factors were eventually selected to contest on behalf of the party. Some aspirants for a particular constituency when not assigned a seat to contest, left the party or contested as independent candidates.

It is also a well-known fact that the financial condition of the candidate is ascertained so that the candidate may be able to finance the expenses independently or the party may sponsor fully or partially bear the expenses incurred by the candidate. Money and muscle power also plays a critical role in the selection of the candidates by a party for elections.

In contrast, the United States has one of the best systems to select candidates to the legislature. This was introduced during the progressive era (1900 -1920) when several reforms were introduced. One such reform involves the election process in the US such as the 17th amendment to the constitution, which provided for direct election of senators to the Upper House of Congress.

This system is known as ‘Primaries’. This is an American invention based on their experiences in developing the country as an electoral democracy. The Primaries are an ideal way of choosing a good and able candidate for the election.

The simple philosophy behind the Primaries is to take the nomination (of candidates) power of the parties to the people. A political party uses a Primary to identify the popularity of the candidate at the constituency level. There will be many aspirants from a party for a seat in a state and for central or federal legislature.

The aim of the Primaries is to find out to what extent a candidate is popular among the vss. Within a party, there may be many contestants for a particular constituency. The mode of Primaries suggests that all of them get an opportunity to contest and try their luck or chance of being a candidate from their own party members.

This is known as ‘Closed Primary’, which means only members of a particular party select the candidates through voting at the constituency level and whoever emerges victorious becomes the candidate of a particular party in the election.

This is a good way to find out whether the candidate is popular within the party and among the party members. Aspiring candidates within the party for a constituency may canvass, meet the members of the party individually, and garner support for them. This grassroot level democracy is much needed today because the parties in India are finding it difficult to identify the candidate for the constituencies. The ‘Closed Primary’, is termed closed because it is conducted within the party where the aspirants try to get majority votes for being a candidate for a constituency. If candidates are selected for a constituency through Primaries then it leaves no room for any complaint for not being selected for a constituency because it has largely gone into the hands of the voters within the party.

Another method by which a candidate may be selected for a constituency is ‘Open Primary’. The Open Primary is meant for all in the constituency irrespective of the party affiliation and is meant for all eligible voters.

This is another elimination method as there are many aspirants to the office of Central and State legislatures. Open Primaries are also meant to get the best among the potential candidates by the votes at large. The Open Primary is a great advantage for a party because they will know the support base for a person in the constituency irrespective of party affiliation. The popular ones known in the constituency for good work and with a great record of accomplishment will be given a chance by the party to field as a candidate in a constituency.

In the recent past, many countries have introduced the Primaries to select candidates for the elections at various levels. In 2010, the Conservative party in the UK introduced the General Election Primaries to select two candidates for the House of Commons.

As a follow-up, in 2015, the Conservative party extended it to more constituencies. The current trend in Europe is witnessing more countries introducing Primaries to know the impression, people have towards candidates belonging to their parties.

Closed Primaries are widespread in Europe but a few political parties generally organise Primaries to nominate the party leader. Some political parties such as socialist, social-democratic parties have tried even Open Primaries, especially in Italy and Greece.

It might come as a surprise to some, but Russia conducted Primaries in 2011. United Russia (the party in power) with All-Russian People’s Front held Primaries for the Parliament election. Four parties in Russia (United Russia, People’s Freedom Party, Party of Growth, and the Green Alliance) held Primaries in 2016.

Therefore, the time has come in India for the political parties to appropriate them in the context of Indian elections. In a democratic country, firstly, the party has to be democratic. Every member of a political party has a dream to contest elections as a party candidate that is dear to one’s heart.

Instead of the party nominating a person for a constituency let the party members choose the candidate through the Primaries. This will also eliminate the problem of the leadership of a party for preferring one person to another. Candidates also will pledge their loyalty to the constituency by working for the constituency, address the problems, and strive for the development of the constituency.

The party will get a candidate who is liked by a majority in the party. This will certainly broaden the democratic space of democracy because, in a democratic country, political parties should avoid becoming undemocratic by nominating candidates.