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Santanfara
3460 Posts |
 Posted - 05 Mar 2008 : 09:49:12
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this piece is culled from gambia l were our brother baba made us aware of some important events taking place in mali.
If only our so-called leaders would emulate Mali's Amadou Toumani
Toure, our continent would be much better off very soon. Check out the story
below.
Baba
President Orders Review of His Country's Democracy
The Nation (Nairobi)NEWS5 March 2008 Posted to the web 4 March 2008 By
Hamadou Tidiane Sy
He may have several enemies often criticising his one "man show" and
his governance style, but Malians no doubt unanimously admit the
invaluable contribution of Amadou Toumani Touré, Mali's current president, to
his country's transition, from a one-party system to a vibrant and
strong multi-party democracy.
ATT as his fellow country people usually call him, has just appointed a
15-member task force - including the chairman, former minister Daba
Diawara and his two rapporteurs - to carry out the necessary reflections
to "strengthen" Mali's democratic model, some sort of preventive cure,
very rarely applied in African politics.
The objective clearly assigned to the newly launched "Committee of
independent experts", is to find ways to consolidate the Malian democratic
model, to correct any dysfunctions in the system.
At the end of February, the committee's mission officially kicked off
after a ceremony presided by President Touré in the presence of all
political parties and other national public and private actors and
stakeholders.
The decision comes at a time when Mali itself is facing any trouble,
nor heading to any immediate election which could have been a source of
suspicion or tension.
Across Africa, the democratic achievements of the early and mid 90s -
which have generalised the practice of multi-party politics and regular
elections in several countries - are being seriously questioned by some
and challenged by the facts.
In Mali, "the institutional practices of the past 15 years have shown a
certain number of flaws and shortcomings which constitute matters of
concern for the political class as well as for the civil society
organisations", President Touré said when addressing the newly formed
15-member committee, headed by Mr Diawara and comprising lawyers, university
professors and civil society leaders.
The Malian ruler also noted that despite "the many amendments to the
electoral Act and the Political parties Charter', the electoral process
and financing the political parties" remain problematic in his country,
as has been shown by the different polls organised since 1992, when the
country entered the democratic era under the leadership of ATT.
During the past 15 years in Mali, there have been four presidential and
parliamentary elections, all of which ended peacefully. Two of the
presidential elections ended with the incumbent head of state handing over
power to his democratically elected successor with elegance and
magnanimity.
Through all this process, President Touré has featured among the main
actors.
More than a decade and half ago, President Toure, then an army officer
had put an end to the one party system after he toppled Moussa Traoré
in 1991. He then led a military transition government, reformed the
country's laws and brought in a new "democratic" constitution less than a
year later and allowed the country to experience its first multi-party,
free and fair elections.
As the leader of the military transition, Mr Touré did not take part in
the election in 1992, which was to guarantee some fairness to the
process.
As a consequence, he boosted his popularity among Malians and
established his credentials in Africa and the world as an example of good
leadership.
This would later ensure his comeback and his election in 2002, when he
decided to officially retire from the army and enter the presidential
race as an independent candidate. He was re-elected in 2007, but was not
happy with the low turnout at his re-election.
The same absence of voters was also noted a few months later in
parliamentary elections, when only a third of the registered voters went to
the polls.
"We need to launch an in-depth debate on those issues", Mr Ousmane
Issoufi Maïga who was the then Prime Minister said over the July 2007
parliamentary elections. He expressed the wish that "all sections" of the
country needed to be consulted to see what was wrong with Mali's
democracy. For the former prime minister, "it was important for the youth, the
women, the political parties, the civil society organisations, opinion
leaders, for everybody to meet to address these issues".
It now seems his voice has been heeded as the committee appointed by
President Touré has been officially mandated to go and "meet everybody",
in power or in opposition, in political parties or outside political
parties, anybody deemed fit to bring their input before the submission of
the committee's final report in August this year.
And, the head of state has pledged to give the committee the necessary
financial support.
Among the major issues to be addressed are the recurrent issues of
electoral fraud, low participation, funding of political parties, voter
registration, low representation of political parties in polling stations
and lack of voter education.
In a nutshell, all those issues which are polluting the political
atmosphere almost everywhere in Africa including in Mali, and some other
parts of the world, because they constitute the basis for free, fair and
transparent elections.
Other issues the committee will have to work on are much less
contentious but have to do with the rationalisation and effectiveness of the
electoral system, such as the number of institutions involved in
organising the voting process, the use of public funds for political parties and
the status and role of strong and credible opposition.
"At a time when the international community is hailing Mali's
democracy, the president has diagnosed a deeply rooted illness. Apparently only
the real national actors can perceive this illness", a Malian national,
Al Hassane Maiga, wrote in a commentary published by local paper Le
Challenger and reproduced online.
In Mali, so far and despite all the "flaws and shortcoming" detected in
the system by the nation and its president, no electoral process or
political antagonism has generated the chaos and violence it has brought
to other parts of the continent.
President Touré himself could have said that this is his last term in
office and start preparing for his retirement - why not? Or, he could
concentrate on ways to modify the constitution so as to pave the way to a
third term for himself - isn't President Paul Biya trying to do so in
Cameroon? Didn't the Chadian president and many other African leaders
do it in the past decade to the point of leading their countries into
political deadlocks?
Question itself
For president Touré, what is at stake is clear. "I am convinced that
the vitality of a democracy lies in its ability to constantly question
itself", he told the taskforce ahead of their starting their mission
which also includes work on questions beyond politics and elections, to
include the relationships between the different institutions in the
country, their respective powers and competence.
This plunge into the governance system as a whole will probably give
more clout and credibility to the committee's work and the country's
stature as a democratic model in the world and in Africa. And as yet the
"independence" of the committee members has not been publicly criticised
by any major political party or organisation.
President Touré has assured Mr Diawara of his support as he chairs the
committee's work noting his understanding of the political institutions
and his independence and moral integrity.
In any case, some members of the public and the Malian media have
warned committee members against any attempt at pleasing President Touré in
their final recommendations by trying to touch "article 30 of the
Constitution", the article which puts limitation to the number of terms in
office.
The atmosphere
"Nobody ignores the atmosphere which characterised the 1992
constitutional changes. Have things evolved so substantially to the point of
inspiring a modification of article 30 to grant ATT a third mandate?", a
Malian newspaper, Le Républicain, asked in its February 29 issue.
For the newspaper, the answer is clear "if there's a consensus about
the need to modify (some parts of) the constitution (?) changing article
30 to allow a third term is out of the question. The military
dictatorship has left indelible marks which make any extension of the
presidential mandate an occasion for bad memories to emerge", the newspaper
concluded.
In fact, ATT does not seem to be interested in such a move in his
favour, at least for now. He has already been a former head of state and
knows the respect one can gain nationally and internationally by accepting
to play by the rules of the game and leaving when it's time to leave.
Moreover he now knows, through his own personal experience, that
there's a life after the presidency and that this life can be as active,
exciting, challenging and rewarding (at times even more) than the life in
the presidential palace. For now he has another four years to go before
coming to this choice which for many African rulers often appears as a
dilemma.
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Surah- Ar-Rum 30-22
"And among His signs is the creation of heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge." Qu'ran
www.suntoumana.blogspot.com |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 06 Mar 2008 : 19:00:32
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Thanks Satanfara to forward THAT WONDERFUL MODEL OF MALI IN ACTION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN DEMOCRACY.
Anyone who read it would agree that it NONSENSE this editorial from Daily Observer Newspaper; Jammeh: a personification of pan-Africanism under this link http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/2008/3/3/jammeh-a-personification-of-panafricanism
Its good to compare and contrast our POLITICAL SITUATION, DEMOCRACY & HUMAN RIGHTS records with MALI IN ACTION FOR A PROGRESSIVE NATION AND FOR AFRICA'S PRIDE!
Cheers to ATT! "A SOLIDIER WITH A DIFFERENCE!" |
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