Lesotho: Intra-party Democracy meeting keynote address

Justice Pius Langa 2002, Keynote Address delivered at the roundtable meeting of the Intra-party Democracy, 5 February.

I would like to extend special greetings and congratulations to members of the Interim Political Authority and to everyone else involved with the work of the IPA. It is indeed gratifying to know that after the problems of 1998, a concrete decision was taken by the political leadership of the Kingdom of Lesotho to engage in discussions, not only to rescue this country from the jaws of disaster but also to lay a secure foundation for the future. The stage has now been reached where discussions are about the fine-tuning of the mechanisms for the holding of elections and not about the question whether elections should or should not be held.

I have always maintained that the best solutions are home-grown. That means that the responsibility to correct things and to find solutions is right here in Lesotho and not anywhere else.

This has been a long process, which undoubtedly had its ups and downs, its times of hope and despair. The exciting reality is that we stand today on the threshold of a further stage, an extremely important one, in maintaining democratic governance. Those involved in this process are engaged in a history-making exercise, right here under the full gaze of the whole Lesotho nation; it is an exercise that is also subjected to intense scrutiny by the whole SADC region as well as the international community. This time we have to get it right, but not because of our friends, neighbours and international community. We owe it to and we must do it for, ourselves, our families, our children and their children and the future generations in this country. We do it for the country.

The meaning and importance of democracy

Voting is a right, our right, and it must be exercised. Article 21 (3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that:

"The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."

The need for the exercise of the vote is not merely western philosophy imposed on the African psyche. The African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights guarantees the right of every citizen to participate freely in the government of their country and to have equal access on the basis of non-discrimination to the government of their country. Since the adoption of the Charter, a number of African countries have been moving in the direction of governance based on electoral legitimacy.

The Constitutional Court of South Africa, of which I am privileged to be a member, has characterised the right to vote as follows:

Universal adult suffrage on a common voters' role is on of the foundational values of our entire constitutional order. The achievement of the franchise has historically been important both for the acquisition of the rights of full and effective citizenship by all South Africans regardless of race, and for the accomplishment of an all-embracing nationhood. The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and of personhood. Quite literally, it says that everyone counts. In a country of great disparities of wealth and power it declares that who ever we are, whether rich or poor, exalted or disgraced, we all belong to the same democratic South African nation; that our destinies are intertwined in a single interactive polity[1].

Each election on this continent is characterised by intense interest not only by international agencies but also institutions and states in Africa. The message, which comes through loud and clear is that the success of democracy is one part of the continent augurs well for all of us. The converse is something we know too well: the failure of democracy in one part of the continent or region has detrimental consequences for the country concerned, its neighbours and the entire region.

Footnote

[1] August and Another v Electoral Commission and Others 1999(4) BCLR 363 (CC) at para 17.