Lesotho: Intra-party Democracy meeting keynote address (continued)

But more importantly, those placed in public office are challenged not to rule or govern in an abstract and detached way. Each law, each decision affects real human beings, friends, family, neighbours. Each law is made in the name of the people. That is why ways and means must always be found to include and involve the people in the exercise of governance and law-making. They must know each step of the way, know what is happening. Good public representatives are those who consult and inform their constituents. It is in that context that we often speak of transparency and accountability. All we mean is that people, who are the real owners of the system, must know and understand the basics and the workings of that system. It's a great advantage to have a good constitution and a system that is universally acclaimed to be correct. What is better, though, and what ensures stability, national unity and progress is ensuring that the nation understands how the system works. The IPA therefore needs to speak the language of the people, while it prepares the people for election; it needs to spell out in simple terms what it is that has been jointly agreed and what it is that each member of the IPA has made a commitment to. The people need to know what the candidates and their parties and their agents are permitted to do and what they are prohibited from doing. There must also be popular acceptance of the concept that one can accept defeat and fairly and honourably compete again next time. That is what the playwright Bertolt Brecht probably had in mind when he wrote the following lines[2]:

Show us the way which we are to go, and we
Will go that way with you, but
Do not go the right way without us
Without us it is
The wrong way
You must stay with us!
You may be wrong and you may be right; therefore
You must stay with us!
We do not deny that the short way is better than the long way,
But if one of us knows the short way
And hasn't the power to show us, then what use to us is his wisdom?
Be wise with us!
You must stay with us.

If that is a common approach adopted by the IPA, the scope for mischief-making, which thrives on ignorance and distrust, will be drastically reduced.

Further, the people expect to see the fruits of democracy and of what they are voting for. They want to see democracy working for them. We all come from a background of colonialism and exploration where poverty, disadvantage and disempowerment are the order of the day. Much is hoped for from elected representatives; much too much is expected by way of delivery. The less endowed a country is with resources, the more difficult it will be to fulfill the expectations of ordinary citizens.

As we know so well, merely proclaiming a new dispensation does not mean that the economy and the quality of life miraculously improves, at the stroke of a pen.

But if we are productive, and work in a transparent and accountable manner, the people will know what is going on, they will know what is available what is not, and they will know and understand what is being done about it. They will know that they are well represented and that their voice and their vote count.

Everything I have said here regarding democracy at national level must of course be reflected at intra-party level. Democracy, like charity, begins at home. Party members trust their leaders, and the leaders of the nation, because they know them as democrats at local and party level and not suddenly at national level.

These are important challenges for the coming democratic elections and for many others to follow.

Conclusion

The fragility of new democratic dispensations is well documented. Some would like us to believe that if it comes out of Africa, it must fail. We must prove them wrong. What this means is that no effort should be spared in developing and deepening a democratic culture in this country.

That culture entails acceptance of the rules of the game. For example, that in a democracy, there is only one way for a party to get into power, and that is through winning the verdict of the people and that is through elections. Thus there is no scope for endorsement by army generals, who might want to pick their favourite politicians and suggest that the army will back them only and not so and so. There are no other routes to power except through the will of the people as expressed in elections, which must be held at regular intervals. We need to ensure that the people enjoy peaceful conferment that those who have lost the election concede defeat with dignity. When these things happen as a matter of course, we can lay claim to being a maturing democracy, where the will of the people is the basis of the authority of government".

So ladies and gentlemen, the nation out there calls out, as I call out to you: "Be wise with us! You must stay with us."

I thank you.

Footnote

[2] As quoted in Echoes of African Art (compiled by Matsemela Manaka, published by skotaville Publishers), 15.