Ivory Coast and Democracy in Africa

5 december 2010

The situation in Ivory Coast seems to be spiralling out of control. It also seems to confirm our worst image of Africa. Two presidents, the former refusing to step down, the new President accepted by the international community but not by the army. A typical African situation, I see us think. Presidents reluctant to relinguish power. It's a mess, in Africa, once again.

Yet, this is not the whole story about Africa. There are countries where elections have led to non-violent changes of power and democratic change. The most recent examples, largely gone unnoticed, is Guinea. On December 3^rd, the opposition leader Alpha Condé was declared a winner of the first competitive elections in 52 years. Former PM, Cellou Diallo filed an electoral fraud complaint, which was however rejected by the Supreme Court. This result paves way to a transition towards civilian rule in Guinea.

Ghana is an African success story. Four elections, two peaceful changes of government since the country turned to civilian rule in 1992. Another example of free and fair elections were the Somaliland’s presidential elections in July 2010. Based on these elections, Somaliland has been referred to as “Horn of Africa’s oasis of stability.” Other elections that took place recently (Namibia, regional elections in November 2010, or in Botswana in 2009) were considered free and fair by international standards.

The elections in Sudan that took place in April this year were not considered free and fair, but the fears that there would be widespread electoral violence in the country did not materialize. They laid the basis for the referendum that is going to be held in January and that will determine the country’s independent future.

Elections, of course, do not equate democracy. This is sometimes confused in post-confict situations where elections are held without the prerequisite conducive institutional environment but rather to satisfy the needs of international donors. Holding elections too soon may lead to exacerbating tensions between formerly warring parties instead of institutionalizing participation of the people in the processes that elect those who govern them. Democracy, when practiced too soon, may legitimize criminal activity and provide impunity for past atrocities rather than giving people a stake in who decide on matters that affect them.

There is not one model of democracy that can be imposed on others. Democracy is about people deciding for themselves how and by whom they wish to be governed. It is part of good governance and instituting a constitutional state. In my experience, people everywhere want to have a say in who governs them and take decisions that affect their daily lives. I have witnessed people walking for days to reach a polling station knowing full-well that they may get harassed, turned back or not be able to vote at all. People even left their children in the village for days and went to vote. I remember visiting those villages full of children without a single adult in East Timor during the first elections preceding independence in 2002.

Back to Invory coast: it looks like a deja vu. Ten years ago the incumbent, general Robert Guei, as well as Laurent Ggbago, proclaimed themselves the winners of the Presidential elections. What is different now is the presence of a peace agreement and UN troops. And the atitude of neighboring countries. Can they prevent Ivory coast sliping back into civil war and making a mockery of democracy?

Back to Ivory coast: it looks like a deja vu