May 2010
Post by member – Daniel Barnett
Areté- Elections: Free Fair and Western
Settled into the Army & Navy Club on St James’ Square the assembled company tackled the evening’s topic “Elections: Free, Fair & Western.” With the barrage of daily headlines concerning politics – both domestic and overseas – this was bound to be a subject of interest for all present. Our speakers were Paul Moorcroft and David Loyn, who both have thus far had careers as ubiquitous as the topic itself- a highly knowledgeable and experienced duo who shared a wealth of opinions for us to digest as part of our well-wined and dined evening.
From the outset, the evening focussed on case studies from Afghanistan and Sudan. Both of our speakers had clearly spent significant time in major conflict and war zones and personally, even though our press gives us a constant insight to just how bad affairs are, their views were sadly an even more distressing version of what gets filtered back to us.
It is very apparent that both regions are becoming more actively involved in elections but realise that corruption is prevailing over their decisions. A Western presence is welcomed by the local people but these feelings are unsurprisingly not shared by the Government and heavy threats have been aimed at those deemed as interfering with their desire for corrupt power. In this situation, it seems vital that a presence is felt but not to actively intervene, as overstepping the line is clearly provoking unnecessary action. Having international observers, though, is beneficial as proceedings can be witnessed and monitored but also, perhaps more importantly, it gives a huge psychological boost to the people as it shows we actually care.
However, the fundamental problem lies within the lack of structure. Both regions have moved towards democracy but not as we know it. The facilities and institutions are either non-existent or not strong enough to support a fair election. Issues range from a lack of literacy and transportation outside the major towns, to the national problem of a non-existent tax system. Without taxes or institutions there is no incentive for a middle class to develop through political stability, as we have historically seen in the West. Therefore, the necessary foundations for democracy are lost as there is no link between those who vote and those who lead. Democracy is seen as the best way forward, but a monumental amount of structure is clearly required.
In terms of a specifically Western influence and involvement, the benefits are very questionable. We should stop to consider the suitability of intervening and encouraging our own political system onto areas of the world that are culturally and historically so disparate. A more passive approach would be difficult with our armed forces there, but monitoring a natural progression could be far more suitable than pushing a country into something that might be damaging in the long term. Also, when considering the UK’s role on advising on politics, it is hard to ignore our recent change of occupants at 10 Downing Street. With the well publicised blunders of our own recent elections and the scrutiny of our last government, maybe it is our country that has a lot to answer for with regards to election methods and government policies? At the very least it has shown that the election system in the UK is beyond out-dated and completely unsuitable for the 21st century, with voters queuing for hours and even being turned away in some constituencies such as Hackney.
At best, politics is complex due to its open and highly opinionated nature. For volatile areas such as Sudan and Afghanistan it is a completely different scenario to what we know in the West. The fact that some sort of democracy has formed at all is a great achievement in itself. A free and fair system will now depend on so many factors. However, we have seen that at present there is often not sufficient structure, power or experience to establish a working system. Therefore, outside/Western influences are a necessity to counteract factors such as the ever-present corruption and large amounts of funding required for institution-building. The extent of external influences will determine how free and fairly a democratic society can form and how long it will take. There is a long way to go and it needs to be nurtured with the right motives behind it. My fear is there are too many obstacles to remove and establish, which may eventually stabilise the country but not be ideal for democracy or reflect the views of the people.
