Frequent elections make the representatives accountable

You cannot blame the people for choosing absolute governments and giving parties large majorities.

Former Indian chief election commissioner SY Quraishi is a strong advocate of credible elections and inclusive democracy. He has extensively spoken and written on how increasing flow of money in elections is taking away the level playing field for candidates from different backgrounds. During his recent visit to Kathmandu, Binod Ghimire of the Post and Suresh Raj Neupane and Rajesh Mishra of Kantipur talked to him on a range of issues from electoral reforms, challenges in maintaining election sanctity in the age of generative artificial intelligence, to why the world is swinging right. Excerpts: