Policing elections

Policing elections
By The Post
Fri 20 May 2011, 04:00 CAT

The police play a very important public interest role in every democratic election. They are required to protect all eligible citizens participating in the electoral process. Their ability to play these roles without engaging in intimidation, coercion or violence against the citizens is crucial to the success of the elections.

If the police are found wanting in the discharge of these duties in any election, the citizens may not have confidence in the electoral process and may question the credibility and legitimacy of any government that emerges from the process and the lack of a credible government is the sine qua non for instability in a polity.

For these reasons, we welcome the announcement by Grace Mulapesi, a commissioner of the Electoral Commission of Zambia, that they expect the police to carry out its mandate in this year’s elections without fear or favour and in an impartial manner.

Mulapesi’s statement is very important because our police have not acted without fear or favour and in an impartial manner when it comes to elections and politics in general. Our police have always sided with the ruling party. The police have allowed members and supporters of the ruling party to get away with crime.

We know very well that the great majority of instances of electoral or political violence in this country have been started by cadres of the ruling party but the police have always turned a blind eye.

However, they have been very quick to react to instances of violence initiated by the opposition and have dealt with them ruthlessly. No one should be above the law. The right to equality before the law is fundamental to any just and democratic society.

Whether political ally of those in power or opponent – all are entitled to equal protection before the law. And under no circumstances should the police impose additional inequalities; it should be required to deal evenly and equally with all political parties, their members and supporters. When this happens, both law and democracy are served.

We also know that the police have been used in electoral malpractices in favour of those in power. They have allowed cadres and supporters of the ruling party to engage in all sorts of electoral malpractices with impunity.

There are cadres and supporters of the ruling party who have been caught with ballot papers, with other people’s voters cards and the police have allowed them to get away with it.

In a word, the police have allowed the rigging of elections in this country. This must stop. It would be very difficult to rig elections in this country if the police were allowed to do their job with independence and integrity.

But we have a police that is an extension of the ruling party, the party to which those who appoint and promote members of the police high command belong. The police is under the command of the President, who is also the leader and candidate of the ruling party.

The police are also under the direction of the Minister of Home Affairs, who is also an appointee of the President and usually a parliamentary candidate himself. Clearly, a police that is totally under the command of a highly partisan group cannot be expected to carry out its duties without fear or favour and in an impartial manner.

We have not had such a police service in Zambia. Those in the police who have attempted to act in that manner have paid a very high price even under the most democratic or fair-minded political leadership.
The police have a very crucial function.

By maintaining law and order and guaranteeing public safety, they ensure that voters can attend or follow the campaigns and rallies so that the candidates and their supporters are able to reach the people and convey to them their visions and programmes.

This helps voters to have a position and decide who among the candidates is suited for them to elect and in so doing make an informed choice among the options they are presented with.

If the police do their work properly, they are able to safeguard the security of lives and property of citizens before, during and after voting. In this way, citizens will not feel unsafe on account of holding, associating with or expressing a political opinion.

This also helps electoral officers to carry out their duties without fear or favour and in a manner that is impartial because they know that nothing will happen to them for having done their job the right way or for refusing to rig elections.
Candidates need security from the police.

The provision of security to candidates during campaigns and elections must be done on equal proportion regardless of whether it is the candidate from the ruling party or opposition. In our country, there is no meaningful protection given to opposition candidates.

Their meetings are often harassed or disturbed by ruling party cadres with impunity, with the police watching but doing very little, if not nothing, to stop them.

There is need for the police to ensure and preserve a free, safe and lawful atmosphere for campaigning by all parties and candidates without discrimination. This is not the case. It’s only the ruling party candidates who receive this protection.

While the police do provide peaceful conditions, law and order around polling and counting centres, they often do so in the interest of the ruling party.

We say this because in areas where the political parties are not well represented, the police have aided the ruling party in one way or another to win elections.

It is the duty of the police to ensure that election materials at voting and counting centres and during their transportation thereto are not stolen, hijacked, destroyed or fraudulently altered by any group or persons.
The police are critical to law enforcement. There is no need to have electoral laws which are not enforceable.

We see so many breaches of the Electoral Code, especially by members of the ruling party, but nothing happens – no one arrests and prosecutes them. It is important that the police be given adequate space to ensure respect for the rule of law as contained in the Electoral Code of Conduct and the electoral Act.

And to be able to function in such an efficient, effective and orderly manner, in addition to maintaining impartiality throughout the whole electoral process, police officers must be alert in carrying out their duties in relation to any electoral processes.

They also need to be proactive and prevent incidents that could lead to disruption of voting or other legally permitted electoral activities.

A police officer on any election duty must be courteous, approachable and accessible to voters and other citizens who may need their assistance. Professional conduct must be maintained at all times by the police service and its officers on any election duties.

The police are obliged to be fair, if necessary firm to all persons within their vicinity of deployment without discrimination on the basis of political affiliation. They must always strive to be fair to all and avoid conduct that could be seen as high-handed, unfair or politically motivated.

We say this because if a police officer’s action is viewed as excessive or unfair, it could lead to serious election-related trouble. And a police officer on election duties must be well-vested with the laws, rules and regulations guiding elections in addition to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In addition to all these, a police officer on any election duties must ensure that the use of force is only strictly necessary and such force should always be proportional to lawful objectives. For this reason, we welcome the initiative to train police officers in what it takes to efficiently police elections.

Consequently, a lot needs to be done before we can overcome the deficiencies of our police in policing elections. And reforming the way of policing elections should be an integral and important aspect of any electoral reforms we undertake. The police need to do their old things in a new way.