THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM
elections. With clearly defined guidelines and regulations in place, parties can be held to account for their decisions and actions. The whole concept hinges on establishing a clear accountability framework. Another important issue concerns whether polling day should be a public holiday. If there are qualms over voter turnout then this would the best possible solution. Yet it would not yield the desired result if voter education is not reinforced.
The growing debate: Majoritarian System versus Proportionate System (or possibly a mixed system) Reforms to the electoral system should consider the level of support all political parties receive so that it is reflective of the choice of the electorate. In cases where the
government has centralised systems the majoritarian system works best. Yet the electoral system should promote a
process of conciliation and consensus building within government. Parties reaching a certain threshold should be included in the legislature in proportion to their level of electoral support. Hence governments can therefore craft policies based on a consensus. This implies the composition of the legislature should reflect the main divisions in the composition of the electorate, so that all citizens have voices articulating their interests in the legislature. In a majoritarian system some voices in the electorate are systematically excluded from representative bodies. Whilst no one system holds sway over the other perhaps having a mixed system could be a convenient compromise.
The role of Election Assessment Missions Election Assessment Missions (EAM) play a key role in alerting jurisdictions of shortcomings and weaknesses that have to
be tackled. The main election body should ensure that credible organisations are promptly given access to the election process. EAMs provide some of the critical basis to drive key changes in the election system. The term ‘free and fair’ has become the byword where everybody waiting on the EAM report wants to hear these words. The whole process hinges on the exchange that is possible by learning from different systems and taking what might be useful and adapt this in different contexts.
The Way Forward
In conclusion as we said earlier, there really are no best systems only best practices. Systems that adopt those best practices find that over time they become part and parcel of people’s psyche. The process becomes second nature and everything comes down to mutual trust. Even though this takes time, it is worth the wait. We must be reminded
Above: The clock tower of Victoria, also known as Little Big Ben, in The Seychelles.
that the focus should never shift from the electoral process and the system it entails being what it is, the basis of democratic governance.
It is therefore incumbent on leaders to make changes or reform the electoral process on that basis alone. It is only by considering this that we truly achieve the dream of ‘government of the people, for the people by the people’. Abraham Lincoln was right in saying this in his Gettysburg address and this should be the yardstick by which we reinvent the political process towards one that is predicated on trust. The choice is important and the manner in which the choice is made is equally important. What is crucial though is that both choice and choice making should happen freely and transparently.
The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue Three | 183
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