Staff Writer | OluwaTobi Oyetunde |
Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, former President of Nigeria and Chairman of Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, has tasked the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to engage African leaders in avoiding electoral and constitutional crises on the continent.
The former president said the impact of the coronavirus may make some countries shift scheduled major elections and may lead to constitutional crisis.
Dr.Jonathan stated this while speaking during a webinar organised by the Kofi Annan Foundation last weekend.
He said the countries are already walking a tight rope, adding that those nations need the support of continental and sub-regional bodies as they seek stakeholders’ compromise on new options.
Noting that postponing presidential elections beyond constitutionally allowed limits could trigger citizen distrust and increase political tensions in many nations, the former President stated that a negotiated settlement is required to avoid crises.
He said: “In West Africa, Presidential elections are due to hold in the last quarter of 2020 in at least five countries including Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso while Benin and The Gambia are due to hold theirs in the first quarter of 2021.
“That is why I am suggesting that the AU and subcontinental bodies in Africa should begin now to warm up. They should start engaging those nations that have elections between now and September this year.”
The former President added that in cases that require some unusual measures to be taken to bring about postponed elections, the decision must involve all key stakeholders especially the political parties.
Warning against what he called resort to pseudo democracies, Jonathan stressed that democracy should be practised to the letter.
He said: “Elections per se does not constitute a democracy. The credibility of the election, the transparency of the process and the issue of trust from the citizens are key indicators of a functional democracy.”
He added: “This is the time that many continental bodies must come up with their own minimum standards for any country going into election to operate. Otherwise people who ordinarily would have loved to be dictators will now exploit the problem of the COVID-19 pandemic and do what is not in line with the laws of the land.”
Jonathan suggested electronic voting as a possible way going forward saying retooling the electoral laws could bring an end to the analogue and manual voting methods which have now become problematic for the continent’s fragile democracies
“One thing that is clear especially in Africa is that we must adopt electronic voting. This covid-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity and the need for Africa parliaments to take another look at the need to retool our electoral laws to bring an end to the analogue and manual voting methods which have now become problematic for the continent’s fragile democracies.”
He added that with lockdown measures announced, credibility of many elections going on at this period may be questionable.
“For democracy to be acceptable, elections must be credible; the process must be transparent and observers must participate especially for presidential elections.
He however pointed out that some countries have been able to experience some positive developments arising from their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance he praised the role being played by different levels of government, especially in Nigeria where he observed that the state governments are now being forced to leverage potentials they had previously ignored.
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