‘Hybrid’ Electoral Reforms – Pros and cons

by Herbert A. Aponso

I have had some valuable comments and criticisms on Electoral Reforms Proposal for a ‘hybrid’ system without preferential votes, published in the newspapers about six weeks ago. Considering the various views that have been expressed, I am now submitting some amendments to my original proposal. I believe that this revised proposal would be more acceptable, especially to minority groups (parties), as it would be a fairer system to determine the number of seats on the basis of nation-wide proportional representation.

Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva has quite rightly pointed that, in the election of MPs on the First-Past-the-Post System (FPP), the present composition of 160 electorates needs to be revised as some electorates have about 170,000 voters, while some are in the region of 50,000. I wish to state that I had suggested that the present composition of 160 electorates be maintained at the forthcoming General Election only as a temporary measure, so that elections could be held without delay. Mr. Rajitha Senaratne has pointed out that, with the present advances in computer science, a Delimitation Commission could act speedily, and forward its report within a few weeks.

Therefore my first revision is that a Delimitation Commission should immediately determine the number of electorates-some of which may consist of more than one seat. For purposes of discussion, I suggest that the number of MPs so elected (FPP) should be 100.

It is recommended that, in keeping with the basic principles advocated in my earlier proposal, the total number of MPs be maintained at the existing number – namely 225. They would consist of the following four categories: (as explained below)

Elected – 100

Selected – 60

Nominated – 60

Bonus seats – 5

These numbers may be 110, 55, 55, 5 respectively or changed suitably.

1. 100 Elected MPs

For this purpose one political party would nominate only one candidate for each electorate, the First-Past-the-Post being elected the MP for that electorate. In the case of multiple seat electorates, there would obviously be more than one candidate from each party.

2. 60 Selected MPs

The candidate who is Second-Past-the-Post (SPP) would be placed on a national list to determine the ranking order of their degree of national acceptability, based on a “Acceptability Score” (ACS), which is calculated as shown below:

The noteworthy feature of this proposal is that it eliminates preferential votes, while indirectly preserving proportional representation at a national level.

3. 60 Nominated MPs

Each party would be allocated a number of Nominated MPs on the basis of the total number of votes collected by the party, from all the electorates in the country; this amounts to Parliamentary representation for the whole country, based on PR. It is suggested that only those with expertise / experience / eminence or representatives of groups such as minorities, should be included in this list.

The noteworthy feature of increasing the number of seats (from the original proposal) for Nominated members is that it would advantageous to small parties.

Though they (the minority parties) may be unable to obtain seats under the categories of Elected or Selected, they would still be able to muster a cumulative number of votes from their supporters who are scattered in all parts of the country.

4. Bonus Seats

Recommend 5 seats to the party that commands a majority. This is a proposal to strengthen and promote stability of governance without the need to resort to fragile alliances and unnecessary compromises.

The writer is Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics.