The Tyranny of Electoral Violence

The death of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has shocked the world. In the days ahead of an important election her life has been cut short by an assassin. This senseless act of violence now completely overshadows any attempt at stabilising the country through the ballot box. Ordinary citizens have been robbed of the opportunity to choose their elected leaders on their own accord and allow due process of democracy to run its course. A section of society has chosen to settle any public debate through this tyranny of violence. This jeopardises any attempt to have a credible election in the upcoming days in Pakistan and sends a terrible message to democracies world-wide. That message says that violence can be an effective tool to quiet any dissent and can be effectively used in electoral campaigns.

Less public events of violence finds its way throughout the electoral process. The killing of three policemen by crowds in Kenya on the eve of the 27 December elections did not draw as great an attention as the Pakistan assassination, but points to an equally grim picture of the tyranny of violence being imposed on society. Jeff Fischer wrote in 2004 that conflict during campaigns, voting and results compilation seems to be the most common points where electoral violence is most likely to occur. These stages, along with a history of electoral violence in the country and a lack of faith in the electoral process, are key aspects that impact on the upsurge of violence as an alternative to the ballot.

What role does an election management body (EMB) play in all of this? For one, an EMB's influence ahead of an election increases dramatically as the clock ticks down towards election day. In many countries, the EMB is able to command or engage with the the security forces of a country towards peace-keeping arrangements supporting the election. It can therefore play an effective role in creating a suitable environment for an election to take place. The identification of potential flash-points is a key part of elections security planning.

Furthermore, the actual legitimacy of the EMB itself comes into question as the referee of the political competition. The public face of the institution and the appointment of its leadership, along with the actions of the EMB all feature large in the public's mind. Where it is perceived that the EMB is toothless or ineffective, the opportunities for people to act with impunity by using violence increases in this "authority-free" environment. Strong action by the Electoral Commission of Kenya against several politicians, who were found guilty and fined for inciting political violence, has most likely impacted significantly in reducing electoral conflict in the recent election of 27 December. Such action sends a strong message to those sectors of our society who believe that violence is acceptable and can be legitimately used during elections. How this will impact once the Kenyan election results are announced will have to be seen.

Oby Nwakwo recently wrote that (in Nigeria) the major causes of electoral violence stem from:

"...primarily a lack of discipline in the form, spirit and implementation of the electoral process; elections rigging, manipulation of voters’ register, the “winner takes all” syndrome, illiteracy, poverty, and ethnicization and monetization of politics. The major factors that bring about election-related violence include negative perception regarding politics and public service, irresponsible conduct by election officials, and failure to enforce law and order, breach of electoral rules, lack of ideology on the part of parties and candidates, which lead to factionalization."

Much of what he points to lies under the control of the EMB. While certain aspects are particular to Nigeria, the control of an election lies significantly in the strength of the election body and its leadership to actively build a clear culture of the ballot as an effective alternative to the tyranny of violence. This most certainly cannot be denied. Whether the EMB in Pakistan could have prevented the senseless slaying of Benazir Bhutto is debatable. What is pleaded for here is a strengthening of election bodies to be able to play a commanding and assertive role during the election period, especially in our most fragile democracies. Eligible citizens need to be able to express their right to vote for their representatives. The senseless slaying of politicians, voters and others involved in supporting electoral democracies should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The tyranny of electoral violence must be addressed!

Start a "stop doing" list

As we watch the clock tick down towards the end of the 2007 calendar, we naturally reflect on the old year and what 2008 brings. Many of us have been in the habit of looking at new year resolutions and dreading making new promises to ourselves that we know we might not live up to. We plan to start that "new" diet knowing that by end January it will be merely a vague memory and feel a pang of guilt about as we had not lived up to our own expectations.

How about starting a "stop doing" list? Instead of taking on new things, consider shedding or getting rid of old things, old habits, things that you should stop doing. These things take you away from your goals, the things that you are good at, the strengths that you possess. It can be those small things like writing reports or drafting budgets. We all know we cannot get away from them, they are a part of life. But what can you do to make the task less tedious to tackle? What will help you get over that "mental block" and get you moving closer to action? What things can you stop doing that will feed you procrastination over report-writing and budget compilation? Consider all those "offensive" things you wish to stop doing in order to get moving into 2008 with a lighter more positive feeling. Don't try and take on more things, rather start dropping things off your list that are non-essential to you happiness, to your work performance, to the fulfillment of your destiny.

Take 10 minutes right now and put together a list of 5 things that you will stop doing in 2008. These non-essentials waste your time and cloud your focus. Get your management team to do the same in the next meeting. And keep at it! You may just simplify your life in many respects.
Best wishes for 2008.

To plan or not to plan

Much of the work that happens in elections does not happen by accident. In fact planning is the only way to pull of such a major logistical event. Supplying the vote to all eligible citizens in a country, whether they choose to vote or not, is not something that occurs overnight. However, in many election management bodies (EMBs) that have run a number of elections, the matter of planning can become less of an issue. Strategic planning can become something that is engaged in every 5 years and a nice glossy document that is pulled out whenever an outsider asks about it.

In a number of cases observed over the past few years, this strategic plan is seldom reviewed or updated. No visible evidence actually exists that people are actually "living and breathing" this document. When I talk of evidence, I refer to posters on walls, everyday reference to goals achieved or being chased, regular planning meetings, staff being commended for progress... Planning is not something you do every five years. Some people argue that it should be done every 30 days, with goals and targets set that stretch people ever so much. It doesn't mean deviating from the broad plan every few days, but rather keeping your finger on the pulse of the EMB to ensure that its moving towards the ultimate goal that was set at the start of the major planning activity and checking if the assumptions made at that stage still hold true.

Having a bold vision means very little if the discipline doesn't exist to keep to it. And the discipline can be developed by regularly reminding everyone about what's at stake. This can mean routine communications about staff achievements towards the goals, and celebrating progress. Similarly, it does mean being brutally honest about what's lacking or weak in the implementation. "Happy talk" never helped anyone when they were going astray. In fact it makes the downfall so much harder. Regular honest reflection, along with achievement recognition and celebration, can go a long way towards ensuring that the bold vision is achieved.

Recently we saw an election held in the world's largest country, Russia, with 69 million voters going to the polls. Around the same time, about 9 million Venezuelans went to vote in a referendum around the same time. Starting on the 11 December 11 countries go to the polls to see out the 2007. Lebanon, Kenya, Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Pitcairn Islands, South Korea, Bermuda, Bhutan, Switzerland all go to vote before 31 December 2007. This translates to more than 85 million people registered to cast their votes in the dying days of 2007. And before you've caught your breathe in the new year of 2008, Georgia and Pakistan both have elections on the 5th and 8th of January 2008 respectively. With more than 154 million voters potentially casting their votes just in December 2007, the amount of planning that has gone into this process is no small matter. With between 2 to 4 years between elections, one has to consider whether the time is being spent well in preparing for the next electoral event. Are all staff being kept busy and focussed on the same goal or are people retiring on the job? When the election is upon you, the time left for planning has disappeared and reaction becomes the order of the day. Spend the quiet days between elections wisely and fruitfully and the election could well be much less stressful than any you've had before. At the same time, the sense of achievement in conquering goals that stretch you and your colleagues, will be so much greater. And you would have done your country a great service!

To all those involved in the elections over the coming month into early January, I wish you good luck and godspeed.