Political Perspective
OKAY, so our elections next week haven't exactly been preceded by the same amount of nail-biting excitement, drama and controversy as those in the US for example.
But it's relatively easy to figure out why.
In the US it was a tight contest between two candidates; in
Namibia the result is a foregone conclusion (yes, yes, I know they
say that it's not over until the fat lady sings ...
but there's no harm in taking a wild guess, is there now?).
Our elections aren't driven by issues at all, and this surely
contributes to a lack of adrenaline, whereas in the US there were
issues, including some mighty strange ones! IN the US those people
who voted for the incumbent George W Bush did so because they like
what he stands for (although this fact calls for a separate,
in-depth look at what drives the American psyche, and its
increasingly right-wing bent!).
Unfortunately it's my guess they voted primarily for his
Democratic opponent, John Kerry, because they were anti-Bush and
not because Kerry himself had captured the imagination of the US
electorate! Speaking of right-wing tendencies, this is apparently a
global trend.
The party that has just won the Belgian elections has been
ordered by the courts to disband itself because of its racism; in
both Austria and the Netherlands, the right wing is getting
stronger by the day, and these aren't the only examples.
Australia's John Howard was returned to power; Tony Blair seems
to have swapped his Labour credentials for those of the
Conservatives (and his close alignment with Bush is just one of the
indications).
Political characterisations of who's 'right' and who's 'left'
are no longer as clean-cut as they used to be in the Cold War
years, and it's often difficult to categorise parties in our
country on this basis.
Usually, I think, left-leaning parties have strong human
rights-oriented, labour union and socialist tendencies, whereas the
right wing is more inclined to be racist, intolerant, and nowadays,
strongly nationalistic.
And somewhere in the middle, the moderates.
These definitions applied particularly in the European and First
World contexts.
In Africa again, it's more difficult.
Swapo was undoubtedly left-wing prior to Independence.
It fought for emancipation, the rights of all, socialist
principles, among others.
Since it has come to power, it has become inherently
conservative, particularly with regard to its unabashed capitalist
economic approach, and anti-gay stance among others, but it still
pays lip service to the importance of labour unions (or vice versa,
perhaps!) and so there are still some lingering remembrances of the
good old left-wing days.
These and other inconsistencies probably go some way towards
explaining the dichotomy within the ruling party itself.
Again, opposition parties here don't differ substantively with
the ruling party on many of the issues (which is why people aren't
enthralled or involved enough with the whole process) although it
can probably be said that CoD for example, is more left-leaning in
some respects.
Not all, however, and the latter remains confused about issues
such as abortion and the gay issue because its constituents are not
unified in their views on these controversial subjects either.
In short, elections are good and people should vote.
But the world, and that very much includes our own country,
Namibia, can and should do a lot more to involve the electorate and
to get them thinking about issues.
For example, comparing their stances on various matters - from
land to unemployment solutions to the privatisation of resources -
would help voters to mark their ballots intelligently and choose
the party that most closely represents their views.
For the moment though, I don't think either US or Namibian
voters for that matter, are as clued up as they should be before
they go to the polls.
This doesn't negate the importance of elections in a democracy,
but it certainly diminishes them ...
In the US it was a tight contest between two candidates; in Namibia
the result is a foregone conclusion (yes, yes, I know they say that
it's not over until the fat lady sings ...but there's no harm in
taking a wild guess, is there now?).Our elections aren't driven by
issues at all, and this surely contributes to a lack of adrenaline,
whereas in the US there were issues, including some mighty strange
ones! IN the US those people who voted for the incumbent George W
Bush did so because they like what he stands for (although this
fact calls for a separate, in-depth look at what drives the
American psyche, and its increasingly right-wing
bent!).Unfortunately it's my guess they voted primarily for his
Democratic opponent, John Kerry, because they were anti-Bush and
not because Kerry himself had captured the imagination of the US
electorate! Speaking of right-wing tendencies, this is apparently a
global trend.The party that has just won the Belgian elections has
been ordered by the courts to disband itself because of its racism;
in both Austria and the Netherlands, the right wing is getting
stronger by the day, and these aren't the only examples.Australia's
John Howard was returned to power; Tony Blair seems to have swapped
his Labour credentials for those of the Conservatives (and his
close alignment with Bush is just one of the indications).Political
characterisations of who's 'right' and who's 'left' are no longer
as clean-cut as they used to be in the Cold War years, and it's
often difficult to categorise parties in our country on this
basis.Usually, I think, left-leaning parties have strong human
rights-oriented, labour union and socialist tendencies, whereas the
right wing is more inclined to be racist, intolerant, and nowadays,
strongly nationalistic.And somewhere in the middle, the
moderates.These definitions applied particularly in the European
and First World contexts.In Africa again, it's more difficult.Swapo
was undoubtedly left-wing prior to Independence.It fought for
emancipation, the rights of all, socialist principles, among
others.Since it has come to power, it has become inherently
conservative, particularly with regard to its unabashed capitalist
economic approach, and anti-gay stance among others, but it still
pays lip service to the importance of labour unions (or vice versa,
perhaps!) and so there are still some lingering remembrances of the
good old left-wing days.These and other inconsistencies probably go
some way towards explaining the dichotomy within the ruling party
itself.Again, opposition parties here don't differ substantively
with the ruling party on many of the issues (which is why people
aren't enthralled or involved enough with the whole process)
although it can probably be said that CoD for example, is more
left-leaning in some respects.Not all, however, and the latter
remains confused about issues such as abortion and the gay issue
because its constituents are not unified in their views on these
controversial subjects either.In short, elections are good and
people should vote.But the world, and that very much includes our
own country, Namibia, can and should do a lot more to involve the
electorate and to get them thinking about issues.For example,
comparing their stances on various matters - from land to
unemployment solutions to the privatisation of resources - would
help voters to mark their ballots intelligently and choose the
party that most closely represents their views.For the moment
though, I don't think either US or Namibian voters for that matter,
are as clued up as they should be before they go to the polls.This
doesn't negate the importance of elections in a democracy, but it
certainly diminishes them ...