Kohima, Aug 28 (PTI) The Nagaland Baptist Church Council on Friday renewed its campaign for clean elections, calling for an end to vote-buying, coercion and other electoral malpractices and urging voters to treat their franchise as a moral and civic responsibility.
Launching the Clean Election Movement (CEM) here, its general secretary Rev. Mar Pongener said the council’s campaign was not a new initiative but a renewed commitment to continue its fight for ethical and responsible elections.
Pongener acknowledged the widespread view that “clean election will never be possible in Nagaland”, but said growing public awareness and resistance to old practices showed that change was possible.
He said the deeper problem lay in the changing understanding of money, leadership, power and responsibility.
“When voters expect money, gifts, personal benefits or other immediate advantages in exchange for their votes, elections become transactions rather than exercises in choosing responsible leadership,” he said.
He warned that the impact of corrupt elections extended well beyond polling day, contributing to corruption, favouritism, nepotism, misuse of public resources, weak accountability and erosion of public trust.
He called on churches to educate voters against selling their votes and urged citizens to reject money, gifts, alcohol, favours and other inducements.
“Clean election begins in our hearts, homes, churches, and communities,” he said, adding that the church must also demonstrate integrity within its own institutions.
Calling for a shift “from programmes to a movement”, Pongener said awareness campaigns alone were insufficient to transform electoral culture.
The CEM, according to NBCC social concern department secretary Villo Naleo, is a non-partisan civic and moral movement aimed at promoting ethical, transparent and democratic participation.
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