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Embrace Internal Democracy O' Ye Progressives By Harry Slim Omoakhia

“Political parties are the expression of political pluralism; they contribute to the formation and expression of the will of the people and are a fundamental instrument for political participation. Their creation and the exercise of their activities are free in so far as they respect the Constitution and the law. Their internal structure and operation must be democratic.” (Spanish Constitution, Art. 6).

“Political parties are the expression of political pluralism; they contribute to the formation and expression of the will of the people and are a fundamental instrument for political participation. Their creation and the exercise of their activities are free in so far as they respect the Constitution and the law. Their internal structure and operation must be democratic.” (Spanish Constitution, Art. 6).



There seem to be unending discourse on what really is internal democracy, its merits, limitations, framework and implementation. Pundits believe that a true and workable internal party democracy helps in developing more democratic, transparent and effective political parties. Areas of specific focus include candidate selection, leadership selection, policy making, membership relations, gender, minorities, youth and party funding. These issues are considered within the wider development context: for example the relationship to governance issues, anti-corruption, security and other democracy dividends. There is no gainsaying the fact that internal democracy is important in nurturing our nascent democracy and delivering its dividends to the masses. However, in the past we have seen little or no internal democracy amongst political parties in Nigeria especially in areas of candidate and leadership selection. The ruling party PDP is the only party which has a semblance of internal democracy as it relates to candidate and leadership selection. The process is however not transparent and altruistic as members still complain of inducement and sometimes intimidation of delegates to vote a preferred "anointed" candidate. However the pseudo internal democracy in the ruling party is completely absent in the opposition as candidates are imposed under the guise of "consensus" candidate.

The coming together of Nigeria "progressives" under the canopy All Progressive congress (APC), brings to fore the need to address the issue of internal democracy in our polity. Progressives are generally considered to represent the far left; they tend not to like the status quo and see the current political climate as being dominated by corporate interests. It becomes expedient to embrace internal democracy in the spirit of progressivism. It will be a pipe dream if the APC believes that it can wrestle power from the ruling party if it continues to do things same old way and expect a different result. Progressives embrace pluralism. Political pluralism is the affirmation of diversity in the interests and beliefs of the citizenry. In a politically pluralistic society, tolerance and mutual respect for divergent thinking tends to develop easily as a way to accommodate diverse aspirations that emerge from the diverse constituencies. It was therefore a surprise when Senator Kanti Bello alluded that the ONLY way the APC (a progressive party) can succeed is by fielding General Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate in 2015. I dont have any problem with the respected general aspiring to be president and if possible give Nigerians the type of leadership it desire, but the diverse aspiration of other progressives should not be undermined. Sen. Kanti’s statement is unhealthy for the yet to be registered party and it is capable of causing disaffection amongst those who may have same aspiration
 
The electoral defeat CPC had in the kano bye election recently was attributed to intractable internal division between leaders and members of the party over imposition of candidates. I believe Kanti does not want that to be replicated in APC; with his belief that only Buhari can guarantee APC success in the 2015polls. My question to Sen. Kanti is; if Buhari decides not to contest, does it automatically mean the PDP will win the 2015 elections?.The electoral defeat of ACN in ondo state and the widespread disaffection amongst ACN members in Edo state over nomination and imposition of candidates for the April local govt polls emphasizes the fact that lack of internal democracy is anathema to any progressive political party. Abraham Lincoln aptly captures it when he said " No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent". Imposition of candidate in any form breeds disunity within a political party and is one of the reasons for defection and unwillingness by aggrieved members to support the "anointed" candidate during elections and could greatly affect the success of the party at the polls.

It has been emphasized that politics is Nigeria is too important to be left in the hands of politicians alone. A number of activists and opinion moulders have been calling on men of impeccable credentials and character to join politics and help save Nigeria, the APC should therefore provide a platform for such people who feel they have the wherewithal to take Nigeria out of the present doldrums to aspire to that position without undermining democratic principle such as fairness, justice, transparency, accountability and equal participation. Adhering strictly to due procedures and democratic practices in selecting candidates and leaders of a party will engender intraparty cohesion and members can collectively present an acceptable and qualified candidate to the electorates in the general elections. The sentiment or face saving argument of Chief Bisi Akande of Action Congress of Nigeria on imposed candidacy should never find its way into the APC. "...Because to take away a man's freedom of choice, even his freedom to make the wrong choice, is to manipulate him as though he were a puppet and not a person.”
― Madeleine L'Engle


An embrace of true democratic values in APC is capable of making the mega party a darling of change seeking Nigerians, and this in turn can help in sending the nihilistic PDP out of power it has so much misused and abused. Yes! We can. God bless Nigeria

This is an excerpt of a series “HOW THE APC CAN BE DIFFERENT FROM THE PDP’. Send Feedbacks and suggestions  to [email protected] facebook/harryslim twitter/harryslim9

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The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters

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