It’s possible to hold free, fair and peaceful elections

It’s possible to hold free, fair and peaceful elections
By The Post
Sat 07 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT

THIS Thursday’s by-elections may not have been to the level of freeness, fairness and peacefulness that we may all desire. But they have taught us that it is possible to hold free, fair and peaceful elections in our country.

These by-elections have also shown us that if the spirit of the primacy of the common good were to animate all our political parties, we would not witness the violence, intimidation and all the unacceptable practices that have started to characterise our elections and which have left most of our people dismayed and disheartened.

As we have stated before, it is necessary to remind ourselves that politics and the elections that accompany it is for the good of the people and the country, and not for political survival of any individual or political party.

The basic item in a democratic state is that the government governs with the consent of the people – “…the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 21, page 5). The minimum guarantee that the government rules on the basis of the genuine will of the people is free, fair and peaceful elections.

The fundamental right to take part in government requires the holding of free, fair and peaceful elections. And any elections that are proved not to be free, fair and peaceful should not be tolerated; they should be cancelled or nullified and re-run until these conditions are met. Free, fair and peaceful elections require respect for freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, freedom of association, the right to peaceful assembly and the freedom from fear and intimidation. They also require the right of every citizen of the right age to register and cast a vote in a public election.

This also requires the right not to be threatened into voting for a person or political party out of fear; it requires the basic freedom from intimidation and violence and the right to participate in the electoral campaign for a candidate or the political of one’s choice. And in this regard, the right to conduct public rallies to campaign for one’s political party needs to be respected.

And those conducting elections, including the registration of voters have a duty to ensure that every citizen or voter’s right to information on the electoral procedures is respected. Right now we have a very worrying situation concerning the registration of voters. People don’t simply know what to do or where to go and register.

Whatever the Electoral Commission of Zambia may say to justify what they are doing, there’s need for them to mull over things and consider the feelings of the people on this score. Things are not what they think they are on the ground. The voter registration is certainly not going well and the whole exercise needs revisiting.

And we urge all our people to pay a lot of attention to electoral matters and do everything possible to register as voters. We also urge all our political parties to do everything possible and ensure that all their supporters register as voters. We wish to once again remind them that in democratic elections, the struggle is often not to determine which candidate or political party commands the greatest public support, but who can most effectively motivate his or her supporters to convert their opinions, their support into votes.

There’s need to ensure that every citizen who has attained the age of 18 registers as a voter and actually votes in next year’s elections. We have been reminding all our people, and we will continue to do so without respite, that voting is not only their right, but rather their duty. If they withhold their vote, Zambians run a risk of getting into public offices people who have no national interest at heart and who are going to jeopardise the future of their children.

The neglect of the duty of participating in the choice of leaders at all levels brings catastrophic results to the nation. It is a great mistake to shun this responsibility. All who have reached the age of 18 should register to participate in electing leaders who have the necessary qualities. It should be understood that the neglect of participating in the voting and in the election of good leaders allows unworthy candidates to take leadership positions and brings disharmony in our country. To neglect to vote is to lose a person’s right and the nation’s right.

It is also important to realise that political rights consist in the capacity of private citizens to participate in government. They exist for the public good and they are not strictly rights but rather privileges. And the most important political right or privilege is the vote. Whether a nation will have good or bad laws, an upright or inefficient administration, depends on the voters. A person who qualifies to register as a voter and to vote but never registers or votes is guilty of serious omission. Citizens who do not care for their duty of voting are an easy prey to tyranny.

The right to elect one’s representatives and to influence the political direction of one’s government is democracy’s indispensable political foundation. Without free, fair and peaceful election, there is neither the possibility for citizens to express their will nor the opportunity for citizens to change their leaders, address wrongs, or protest the limitation of their rights. Elections establish the citizenry’s and the individual’s political rights. They are the ongoing representation of the consent of the governed.

Free, fair and peaceful elections mean that elections offer equal opportunities for all competing political parties and candidates. Such equality requires the ability of political parties and candidates to campaign without unreasonable constraints, balanced access to the media for all candidates, the absence of campaign finance abuse and an independent electoral process. It also means that there are no burdensome impediments for one to register as a voter. The ideal is to have maximum participation in elections.

For democracy to work in our country, everyone must agree to accept the results of freely held elections. The people and political parties who have lost elections must be willing to accept defeat. If the loser refuses to accept the winner because of real or perceived malpractices or abuses, the election’s legitimacy is diminished and the political system may be marked by conflict and instability.

The potential for abuse shows that the integrity of democracy is not an inevitable outcome of elections and must be ensured a country’s citizens. Elections are the sine qua non of democracy. Without democracy’s other essential elements – the consent of the governed, constitutional limits, the protection of human rights, accountability and transparency, a multiparty system and the rule of law – elections cannot guarantee that freedom will be achieved.

We have seen that where democratic institutions are weak, elections are easily used by corrupt, violent and undemocratic elements to manipulate the will of the people and seize control of the government and other institutions of the state. During the 1930s in Germany, for instance, Adolf Hitler rose to power in the Weimar government through elections and then assumed complete control through intimidation and thuggery.

We saw how in 1991 Frederick Chiluba rose to power through free, fair and peaceful elections to establish a kleptocracy and a tyrannical regime that continues to corruptly keep itself in power and make elections appear to be a mere formality. They have been carrying out elections that don’t seem in any way to promote or deepen democracy but to undermine it. They have been holding elections which they manipulate and distort to impose fraudulent results that create fictitious consent.

This calls for meaningful participation from all of us so that we can wisely choose people who will take the direction of the affairs of our country. We should be conscious of the crucial role which everyone of us should play in choosing the leaders who will create the Zambia we want to live in.

Lastly, we urge the Electoral Commission of Zambia, all our political parties and all our people to pay maximum attention to the registration of voters and ensure that every Zambian of the voting age is not only given the opportunity to register as a voter but that he or she actually registers to vote in next year’s elections. Everything possible should be done to ensure that this is achieved.