THERE are many people in this country who would make excellent non-political candidates at election time. However these people are denied access to the electoral process because as individuals they lack the money and resources of political parties. So as a result, legislative power remains a preserve of political organisations, which are in turn, manifestations of vested interests. Thus parliament becomes an ideological battleground and the people are disenfranchised. Therefore the state must make provision for individuals to participate on an equal basis at election time.

This could be done through grants etc, of course the state shouldn't subsidise crank candidates but rather should set specific criteria for funding, each constituency could fund say two candidates. These could emerge from a non-political shortlist. We must take measures to ensure that we send people to parliament instead of politicians, only then will the true meaning of democracy be realised.

Anthony Makara

Broadwalk, Westhoughton

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.