I am ashamed of vote-rigging

Not a week goes by it seems when yet another vote-rigging scandal is revealed. The latest involves a Tory Councillor in Slough. At a time when politicians are under more scrutiny than ever, a vote rigging scandal is the last thing any party needs.
The case of Tory Councillor Eshaq Khan in Slough is the latest in a long line of cases involving mainly Asian “politicians” who have resorted to rigging postal votes and using fake names to get elected. Eshaq Khan was found guilty and rightfully stripped off his seat. I hope it will be a lesson for him and all those who engage in this dishonorable act.

Most Asians value the electoral system we have in this country and whilst it’s far from perfect, few have attempted to cheat their way into town halls and Parliament. However, the recent trend where elections in mainly Asian populated areas of the country including Lancashire, Birmingham and London have come under heavy scrutiny and in almost all cases, serious discrepancies have been unearthed with the culprits rightly punished for their actions.

During the 2005 general elections, I witnessed first hand the tactics employed by individuals in Burnley to gain a seat in the town hall. Although their actions did not directly affect my election, they certainly influenced people’s thinking. It was a shameful chapter in the lives of those involves. They were rightly prosecuted but the problem is far from isolated. One or two individuals are punished but all too often, many get away and come back in different guises at another time and another election.

These people are showing traits found almost all too frequently in places like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and where for this single reason, progress has been held back. But those engaging in this malpractice here in the UK have no reason to employ such tactics. They are free to stand and seek election in a fair way if they have the ability and confidence to do so. The truth is in many cases, these people are far from fit to serve the community. They consider themselves to be indespensible to the community. Their heavily swollen egos somehow convince them that they can bypass rules that exist for all. Others believe that any means justifies the end because of their under-representation in political institutions.

It is time Asian communities made a stand against these people. They rarely represent us at the best of times and when they caught in such vote-rigging scandals, it tarnishes whole communities. We have to weed these so called leaders out from our midst and make it clear that we will not tolerate their ways.

As the discussions about openness and accountability rages in Westminster, politicians of all parties need to address the increasingly worrying trend of vote-rigging amongst predominantly Asian areas to truly clean up the process or people will fast lose faith in a system already taking a battering at the ballot box.