Next year, including T&T, there are expected to be as many as nine Caribbean general elections. Already, the political forces are vigorously massing in Anguilla, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and St Kitts and Nevis. And there is the possibility of an electoral contest in deeply troubled Haiti.
Meanwhile, the collapse of the coalition
government in Sint Maarten has led to July elections - only six months after
voters went to the polls. But outside of this, and so far, regional election addicts
will have to wait until next year to bring out past election reports,
scoresheets, and arrive at informed predictions.
So far this year, we have had local
government elections in Belize and Jamaica, internal PPP elections in Guyana
earlier this month, and on June 17 T&T holds two local government
by-elections but not before June 15 when UNC members vote to choose key party
operatives, not including their political leader.
Differences in internal electoral processes
attract varying degrees of public interest in the mechanics of such contests,
but they provide interesting clues into the democratic habits of the people and
organisations that pursue occupation of national office.
Confidence in the systems that install
leaders at that level necessarily translates into the way independent-minded electorates
weigh their options when it is time to either accept or reject invitations for
national support.
This must have been considered when the PNM
moved away from its longstanding (and often controversial) “delegate system,”
for internal elections, to “one-man-one vote” a little over a decade ago. The
UNC should also be reading the room when it comes to the conduct of its own
affairs. The current situation appears untidy.
The messages the party’s delegation took to
the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) on May 1 should now correspondingly
be key areas of focus for the party’s Election Management Committee (EMC).
Elsewhere, and within recent years, there
has also been cause for grave concern regarding countries to which we once paid
attention as models worthy of emulation.
This has, of course, occurred elsewhere in
the past - with democratically elected leaders moving to undermine the bases of
even their own selection through autocratic, anti-democratic behaviour.
Even so, there is little doubt that recent electoral
decision-making around the globe has not always conduced to more democratic
conditions. Witness recent electoral outcomes in Europe and Latin America, for
example - relatively free and fair events producing results that do not
necessarily reflect democratic values.
It can also be said that our big neighbour,
the United States, at this moment does not present us with official behaviour
that encourages broad or real political participation, while the politics of
the United Kingdom are now more frequently offering lessons in the absurd.
Everywhere there appear to be conditions
for re-examining electoral decision making to ensure more faithful observance
of the needs of populations and application of principles to make life better
for people.
Elections and their accompanying campaigns
ought to signal levels of commitment to such an idea beyond the harnessing of
votes.
On July 28, for example, the people of
Venezuela vote at a time when an honest dialogue is needed to address the indisputable
circumstances that led to a mass exodus of citizens over recent years. Has the
Maduro regime put this on the table?
For November 4, against the backdrop of
recklessly injurious actions against multilateralism and open violations of
international law, is there a recognisable electoral platform exploring such depravities
when it comes to the United States?
In India, where despite obvious progress at
the macro-economic level continued hunger and socio-economic alienation
prevail, the current lengthy electoral process (over 970 million voters!!!) is
hardly being considered a watershed moment to help fill the gaps.
Ditto the UK’s July 4 elections with the
possibility of stabilising a situation in which there have been four prime
ministers over the past eight years representing the same political party; with
none having served an entire term in office even as renowned social services
sink into disarray.
As we speak, disgruntled, disappointed South
Africans are today at the polls and the ruling ANC might struggle to attract
over 50% of the vote.
For the rest of us, these examples hardly
offer best practice models in the modern era. Election watchers should be keeping
an eye out not only for statistical outcomes but for the extent to which
elections are delivering results reflecting developmental needs.
Next year, we in T&T and some of our
neighbours will need to get clearer directions on the hustings to ensure our
votes truly count, however much the challenge clearly persists elsewhere.
