Chance to reform

Dec 15, 2000

FIVE weeks of acrimony have come to an end in the United States with Al Gore conceding the presidential race to his rival George W. Bush.

FIVE weeks of acrimony have come to an end in the United States with Al Gore conceding the presidential race to his rival George W. Bush. The bitterness that marked claim and counter-claim, litigation that reached the highest level of the judicial system and the sheer split down the middle of Americans' support for either candidate and the two main parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, makes reconciliation of essence. This endeavour will no doubt be helped by the graciousness of Gore's concession and Bush's openness in responding. But the battle will be in government, where the legislature is split right down the middle, and in the hearts of the people. It is no doubt absurd that the candidate who got less votes from the people won the election. Winner Bush's share of the popular balloting (49,820,518 votes or 48%) to loser Gore's (50,158,094 or 49%) has exposed one of the quacks of the American electoral system. There will have to be some electoral reform to prevent a less popular candidate winning an election, an anomaly that arises out of the fundamentally undemocratic method of using the electoral college. Of course America should learn from this, and the rest of us should be watching. While it is easy to condemn this flaw, the big test comes in whether there is a willingness to address it. We may all aspire to live in a perfect world, but that is impossible, though we can make honest efforts at improving specific aspects of life. That is how human society has evolved over the centuries. The Americans have seen and recognised the problem in their system, and will, hopefully, address it. That is the lesson for the rest of the world. Ends

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