By DOtun IBIWOYE

Indian President, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, is suggesting the ban of criminals from elections, stressing that corruption is a cancer which disrupts good electoral practices and functional democracy.

He spoke at the Indian High Commission in Lagos through the country’s Head of Chancery, Mr. Rakesh .K Sharma, at the occasion of the country’s 65th independence anniversary.

According to him: “Good electoral practices are linked with strong, functional democracy. Various proposals have been made to reform the electoral process, including state funding of election and debarring the participation of criminals in elections.

“Corruption is a cancer affecting political, economic, cultural and social life. It is necessary to eliminate it. Government, parliament, judiciary and society at large should ponder about this and find out ways to handle it in a manner that is practicable, implemental, and sustainable.”

He noted that there cannot be just one panacea or remedy to deal with corruption, but a system of transparency and accountability should be put in place at various levels.

“The various proposals for debarring of criminals should be examined early for adoption as a part of our efforts to further enhance the healthy functioning of our democracy and to cleanse the system.”

He pointed out that India is the world’s largest democracy and that the country performed well with an economic growth rate of 8.6 percent last year.