BNN provides English-language US and world news, analysis and opinion from all over the Internet. We strive for high standards, ethical behavior, and the presentation of multiple responsible points of view.
|
Get More Traffic For Your Blog! Blog Explosion brings hundreds of interested visitors to your blog - without costing you a cent. BNN News Archive Page |
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Historic Congo Milestone: Democracy and Elections Now Rule East and Central Africa The East and Central African regions have achieved a historic milestone. With the completion of elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) presidential elections, the region will be dominated by democratically elected governments which could alter the future of the entire region. The DRC’s first democratic elections in more than 45 years attracted the interest of major powers, international organizations as well as a media eager to capture history in the making. The elections, if successful will change the face of the whole region. The country and the region at large have in the past endured political and social turmoil, and with at least five countries in the region poised to achieve greater stability in 2006, the region stands to prosper. Tanzania has been a trend setter in the region and embraced the wave of multiparty politics and democratization that swept the region in the early 1990s. There have been a number of positive changes since the adoption of the multiparty system in 1992. However the political transition currently faces a number of problems and threats which include the following: •the dominance of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM); •the weakness of opposition parties due to an uneven electoral playing field, as well as internal problems of opposition parties; •political tensions and violence in Zanzibar; •the extensive power of the state to register, control, and de-register NGOs; •the low level of political awareness of a large section of the rural population. Recently, while opening a two-day conference on the state of politics in Tanzania in Dar es Salaam on 25 July 2006, the Tanzanian Prime Minister Edward Lowassa urged the opposition to resolve their political squabbles to consolidate inter-party democracy and keep the ruling party on its toes. He urged the opposition to rise above squabbling over petty issues and challenge the ruling party to serve the country better. ‘‘Carrying out thorough and regular evaluation,” he said, “of the achievements realized from the democratization process is something of paramount importance in our country,” Tanzania is committed to good governance as the key requirement for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and significant steps have been taken to promote good governance and accountability since 2001. The Tanzanian presidential elections last year were significant in that the incumbent President Benjamin Mkapa, who had served two consecutive terms, also exemplarily stepped down in accordance with the constitution. Kenya mirrors the progress in Tanzania and it held a peaceful democratic transition in 2002. Mwai Kibaki, the leader of the National Alliance Rainbow Coalition (NARC) ended the 24 years of Arap Moi’s Kenyan African National Union (KANU). The peaceful, democratic transition that ensued has now set a pattern for the region. The Carter Center was pleased with Kenyan elections and commended Kenyans for their conduct on Election Day and the generally calm atmosphere in which polling took place. The Electoral Commission of Kenya was commended for its role in the conduct of the elections and the Carter Center welcomed the degree of professionalism and impartiality displayed by the Commission and its staff. In Uganda, despite the fact that some people said the country was in for a bumpy ride, whatever the outcome of its last presidential elections, the European Union Election Observation Mission to Uganda noted that the country’s first multi-party and presidential elections since 1980 demonstrated significant improvements in comparison to previous ones. Despite a number of problems experienced by voters on election day, the EU chief observer, Max Van Den Berg, noted that, ‘’voters came out in large numbers , knew that they had a choice between change or continuity and made this choice with calm and dignity.’’ According to the EU, the elections showed improvements in comparison to previous ones by being more transparent but there was no level playing field. Berg also expressed happiness over the increased number of women legislators which he said was 30 per cent of the total number of legislators in the Eighth Parliament. On the other hand, the tiny central African nation of Burundi is struggling to put behind it 12 years of ethnic conflict that killed at least 300,000 people and displaced another million but it also has demonstrated it commitment to democracy. On August 19th 2005, former rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza of the National Council for Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) was elected president. Overall, the elections were regarded as free and fair, and none of the major parties emerged as spoilers. The implications of this event in this small, conflict-ridden state could also reverberate positively throughout the Great Lakes region of Central Africa and beyond. ‘‘Burundi was, by and large, a success story and Burundians had looked the issues of domestic strife in the face and moved on,’’ Carolyn McAskie, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Burundi, said on 22 March 2006 at a Headquarters press conference. While Burundi's democratic reconstruction is far from complete, the election suggests that even the most violent and sorely divided societies can be restored, given sufficient political will and generous resources to support the process of negotiation and change. Despite the challenges of extreme poverty, lingering ethnic divisions, crumbling infrastructure and a still active insurgency, the success of Burundi's peace process to date is a symbol of hope for stability in the volatile Great Lakes region. Neighboring Rwanda, as a result of the war and genocide of 1994, is going through a painful challenge of rebuilding the whole governance infrastructure. From the period of emergency, through the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase up to the current effort of long-term development, a considerable amount of work has been done in the spheres of re-establishing and strengthening good governance. Presidential and legislative elections were held in 2003, and important reforms like decentralization, public sector reform and justice sector reform are underway and transparency and accountability institutions like the Ombudsman office and the Auditor general office are in place. The United Nations (UN) on 19 May 2006 pointed out that good governance was improving in the poorest countries. The UN cited Roving judges in the Maldives and the community justice system (‘Gacaca’ in Kinyarwanda) in post-genocide Rwanda as just two of the pioneering democratic governance initiatives captured in the first UN report on governance in the fifty most vulnerable countries in the world. There is a growing optimism in the Great Lakes region fostered by regional co-operation and the progress towards democratic governance in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These positive expectations are increasingly shaping the humanitarian context in the region and are leading to shifts and new humanitarian priorities including those linked to refugee returns. Armed factions in the DRC are reported to be operating in the vast country and constantly destabilize the region. Turning the DRC around is vital for the region and continent as a whole, not just because of its sheer size and mineral wealth. "Congo matters because it has been the largest humanitarian crisis in the world," said Dmitry Titov, head of UN peacekeeping in Africa. "It matters because the conflict impacted an Africa country that ranged from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean." The majority of states in the Great Lakes region are now firm democracies, but governments continue to face setbacks in basic capacity to provide the rule of law, institutions, education and infrastructure necessary to sustain the progress of democracy and economic development. "Elections don't magically change a country, it's what happens after the elections that will decide whether this country turns a corner." said Anneke Van Woudenberg, a Human Rights Watch expert on Congo. Indeed, the mere fact of a multiparty election is not sufficient guarantor of stability and prosperity in the DRC and the region. Integral to this is good governance and commitment to a long-term view of development. The DRC is well endowed and positioned to be a major supplier of raw materials to the global economy. The return to sustainable peace therefore, will strengthen the DRC's ability to exploit its vast mineral wealth in a more sustainable and equitable manner. Due to political instability, the country has not fully enjoyed the benefits from its mineral wealth. Indeed, the landmark elections in DRC this month could usher in a mining bonanza for the vast African state whose mineral riches have in the past produced as much war, corruption and misery as wealth. "If there are successfully-held elections, that will boost investments," said Illtud Harris, spokesman for BHP Billiton the world's largest diversified miner which has already opened an office in Kinshasa. The DRC has vast untapped agricultural capacity and has potential to become the next food-basket of the region and Africa. Straddling the equator and spanning two tropical zones, its climate favors the cultivation of a wide range of tropical and Mediterranean crops. More than half of the DRC's land is arable and suitable for farming but currently just a fraction is being utilized. The DRC’s river system, if well harnessed, could also power the entire region and continent. Regional security stands to improve as neighboring countries will then engage an elected government to jointly deal with security issues and re-establish diplomatic, economic and cultural ties and even make the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) functional considering the benefits of regional integration. All these democracies will work together towards ensuring sustainable regional peace and stability, hence change East and Central Africa. The new government will also cooperate with its neighbors and the international community in ending the instability caused by various negative forces on its territory. Stability in Congo has direct impact to the nine countries sharing its common boarder. The DRC will finally become the linchpin that binds and stabilizes East and Central Africa, providing opportunities not only for its own people but also the neighboring countries. In addition, with the elections in the DRC, democracy stretches across the continent from ocean to ocean with elections that have been supervised by international monitors. The next step for the region is to have an affect to the north and place pressure on the governments of the Central African Republic and Chad for fair and open multi-party elections. The Great Lakes Centre for Strategic Studies is a London-based think tank. Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by GLCSS at 11:18 AM |
Subscribe to BNN and get a daily bulletin of all our news postings. Interested in writing for BNN? Want information on our news service? Contact The Editor Writing for BNN BNN Editorial Policies Previous Posts
|
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home