The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to be the big winner of the elections, emerging as the largest party in the 545-seat parliament with 175 to 185 seats. Bharatiya Janata was expected to demand the right to attempt to form a government. But most of the other parties might refuse to join it in a governing coalition because of the Hindu party's controversial positions on nuclear weapons and relations with India's Muslim minority. A government led by Bharatiya Janata could destabilize South Asia by wrecking India's fragile relations with Pakistan.
Meanwhile the Congress Party seemed to be headed for third place with 130 to 140 seats, its worst showing in history. In between was an alliance of center-left and radical parties, with an estimated 140 to 150 seats. The other seats would go to dozens of independents and minor regional parties who could hold the balance of power.
What will emerge from the confusion can't be easily predicted. Certainly there is no clear successor to the Congress Party, which has ruled India for most of its history since gaining independence. A change in the government is probably healthy in view of the Congress Party's overlong rule. But it would be unfortunate if Rao's efforts to deregulate and liberalize the Indian economy were reversed by the new government.
The process could be improved by giving the governor the authority to appoint five, not three, commission members, and removing legislative leaders from those selecting the people engaged in the initial process of reviewing applicants. But that would require legislators to give up power they now have, and that is not likely to happen soon.
The local autonomy concept is not without its pitfalls. New York City's system of 32 elected community school boards has never worked satisfactorily. Voter turnouts for the elections is abysmal, incumbents with long records of academic or administrative failure are re-elected, and parents of public school students "wind up with less representation than local politicians with an eye for patronage."
The SCBM program in Hawaii bears no resemblance to the New York situation. But New York's problems could resurface in Hawaii if SCBM moved in the wrong direction, and discredit the program. Care must be taken to ensure that it doesn't happen.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor