The integrity of MPs in building democracy
In the recent decades, ethical regulation in parliaments has grown significantly, as a result of negative political scandals, public outcries and debates, and on the other side, the improvement of positive policies promoted by international organizations. The integrity of Members of Parliament is of particular importance, because the failure of members of parliament, as well as the lack of integrity of parliamentarians to act with integrity impact on the trust in democracy. For the integrity system to be effective, it should respond to two key dimensions of integrity, namely the legal-institutional and the personal responsibility dimension. Ethical regulatory processes themselves vary from the focus of norms, i.e. compliance vs. integrity or transparency vs. sanctions, as well as the degree of externalization of mechanisms for supervision and its implementation, play an important role in the ethical processes of building the ethical values.
It should be taken into consideration that the process of selection of appropriate candidate is a cornerstone in building democracy and parliamentarism, which is in line with the solution for nomination of a party candidate (MP), which will result with the level of trust and support from the people. The process of selecting a candidate for a Member of Parliament, i.e. finding the right person/candidate for the appropriate position, should include all steps from the initial review of the resume, assessment of skills, knowledge, interview, background check, until making the final decision on the candidate and its preparation. That process is the most important factor for attracting the best candidates to the parties, i.e. persons who are highly qualified and share the common accepted values in society. The process of candidate selection should be aligned with the party's strategic goals in order to create a strong strategy that is of a crucial importance.
The common accepted norms and values support only the candidates with strong, moral and ethical principles and values. Those values, clear norms and non-corruption behavior are essential for protecting the dignity and status of a Parliament and the State. That is why MPs must be people with integrity at their core, who place their greatest duty on the people above all. Of particular importance is whether the MPs have experience, knowledge and work integrity. Voters should believe that MPs make decisions for the public, social good and not for political benefit. The selection of candidates is vital, and therefore parties should democratize the selection of nomination of candidates. Candidate selection itself is the process by which political parties decide who will be on the ballot as their respective candidates. The way the parties make that choice is largely determined by their rules and procedures, but in many cases this concept is very vague. Hence, the importance of existence of a clear procedure, as the selection and nomination process can have a direct impact on the overall democratic process in the country.
The question arises what determines the selection and nomination process? Factors such as the electoral system, party ideology, political culture and organization of the governance have influence and contribution in the candidate selection process, but still, there is no rule which of them is decisive. Candidate selection procedures provide political parties with ex-post control mechanisms, which enable disciplining incumbent MPs seeking re-election. The current MPs seeking re-election should be monitored and evaluated for their work in the parliament by the citizens and the party.
Parliament is in the heart of democracy and MPs should reflect the will of those who elect them. That is why the choice and selection of the candidates for MPs in the political parties, who will represent the citizens in the parliament in the future, is of an essential importance. If we have confidence in democracy, we can believe that we are leading the country into the right direction of prosperity. Political entities need to invest and contribute to building trust in Parliament, i.e. Democracy, because only in that way the citizens will believe in their commitment for a better future and development of the State.
