回到頂端
|||
熱門: 黃子佼 徐巧芯 地震

【小老百姓出頭天】頭戴甘地小帽 平民黨魁接掌德里

立報/本報訊 2014.01.01 00:00
策劃、編譯■劉耘

以掃帚作為標誌,誓言掃除國家貪污,

印度「小老百姓黨」日前於國會選戰中異軍突起,

一改過去兩黨獨大的政局,更以平民之姿入主德里巿政府,

他們如何崛起,又將在印度社會造成什麼影響?

沒有浩大車隊,也沒有以往象徵權力的服飾;印度新崛起的「小老百姓黨」黨魁28日搭乘擁擠的地鐵來到首都德里,宣誓成為德里市首長。

數萬名支持者雀躍的看著克里瓦爾入主市政府。距離2014年大選幾個月時間,這位前任稅務官不僅態度謙和,表現也令人驚艷,初次參選就動搖了印度兩黨獨大的局面。

年輕政黨 翻轉政治版圖

克里瓦爾領導的小老百姓黨成立還不到1年,於當時的反貪腐運動中崛起,如今這個小黨已獲得一個跳板,使其在5月的下議院普選中,挑戰主政其他城市地區的主要政黨。

「今天,小老百姓贏了。這感覺就像奇蹟一般。兩年前,我們根本無法想像這樣的革命發生在這個國家。」

德里的羅摩力拉廣場上,克里瓦爾在勝選演說中這麼說道。這個廣場正是2011年大規模的反貪腐抗議的發起之地,而當年的反貪腐運動促成了小老百姓黨的誕生。

去年12月4日的地方選舉中,擁有1,600萬人口的德里市,沒有政黨贏得能單獨組閣的多數席次。

緊接而來的政治僵局,卻在小老百姓黨與德里市民協商後出現轉機。他們同意在來自國大黨的「外來支持」下組成德里政府,促成執政聯盟的形成。

國大黨流失中產階級選票

民調顯示,由知名的尼赫魯.甘地家族掌權的國大黨,將在2014年選舉中遭到痛擊,因為民眾不滿現任政府在兩屆任期間,不僅貪腐醜聞頻傳,也無力緩和通貨膨脹。

對於來自印度人民黨、現處領先地位的省長莫迪來說,這是個威脅。莫迪相當仰賴城市裡中產階級的強大支持。

「在反對現任政府的聲浪中,印度人民黨一直希望能獲得大部分來自都市的選票,莫迪尤是如此。」美國布朗大學的政治學者瓦什尼說道。他形容,小老百姓黨的崛起有如一場「選舉暴動」。

身穿簡單的藍色毛衣,頭戴船型甘地小帽的克里瓦爾,矢言要建立反賄賂諮詢熱線。

在印度這個世界最大的民主國家,克里瓦爾緊抓住都市民眾對於政治階級貪贓枉法、不顧市民權益的怒火,承諾他將把反貪腐運動推行到全國上下。

小老百姓黨不僅誓言要把德里貪腐的議員送進監牢,更承諾要提供免費用水給德里市的每家每戶,也承諾要大幅調降電費。(路透)

(圖說)印度新德里的羅摩力拉廣場上,小老百姓黨黨魁克里瓦爾在宣誓就任德里市長的典禮中高喊口號,圖攝於2013年12月28日。(圖文/路透)

There was no motorcade(1), and none of the traditional trappings of power: the leader of India's upstart "common man party" arrived on a crowded metro train on Saturday to be sworn in as chief minister of Delhi, India's capital.

Tens of thousands of jubilant supporters watched as Arvind Kejriwal, a mild-mannered former tax official, was anointed after a stunning electoral debut that has jolted the country's two main parties just months before a general election.

The emergence of Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, as a force to be reckoned with barely a year since it was created on the back of an anti-corruption movement could give it a springboard to challenge the mainstream parties in other urban areas in the election due by next May.

"Today, the common man has won. This truly feels like a miracle. Two years ago, we couldn't have imagined such a revolution would happen in this country."

Kejriwal said in a triumphant speech at Delhi's Ramlila grounds, the very place were huge protests over corruption erupted in 2011, opening the way for the birth of the AAP.

In a Dec. 4 election to the legislative assembly of Delhi, a city of 16 million people, no party won the majority of seats required to rule on its own.

The impasse(2) that ensued was broken after the AAP consulted the people of the city. It then agreed to lead the Delhi government with "outside support" from the Congress party, which heads the national ruling coalition.

Opinion polls show that Congress, the party of India's celebrated Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, will be punished in the general election because of disgust with a government whose two terms have brought corruption(3) scandals and stubborn inflation.

That could be a threat to the front-runner for prime minister, Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who is counting on strong support from urban, middle-class voters.

"Riding an anti-incumbency(4) wave, the BJP, especially under Narendra Modi, had hoped to garner(5) most of the urban vote," said Ashutosh Varshney of Brown University, who described the rise of Kejriwal's party as "an electoral insurgency".

Wearing a simple blue sweater and with a boat-shaped Gandhi cap on his head, Kejriwal pledged to set up an anti-bribery helpline.

Kejriwal, who has tapped into a vein of urban anger over the venality of the political class and the neglect of citizens' rights in the world's largest democracy, has promised to expand his movement across the country.

Along with a pledge to send Delhi's corrupt lawmakers to jail, the AAP has also promised free water for every family in the capital and a sharp reduction in their electricity bills.

關鍵字詞

1.motorcade(n.)車隊

2.impasse(n.)僵局

3.corruption(n.)腐敗

4.incumbency(n.)任職

5.garner(v.)獲得

【關注更多新聞請加入立報粉絲專頁】https://www.facebook.com/TaiwanLihpaoDaily

社群留言

台北旅遊新聞

台北旅遊新聞