Consensus candidate, threat to democracy

Political parties as voluntary organisations of free citizens in democratic state feature their candidates for positions and strive to gain the best results in elections. Political parties differ immensely in various countries, depending on party or electoral systems they operate. Those systems immensely form their attributes. However, the one attribute which characterises political parties in all democratic systems is competition or some other form of power struggle.

Internal party democracy is a key ingredient of any democratic system of government. This is because democracy ought to begin from the parties and how they choose their candidates for the election proper. If the candidates are chosen of the tenets of democracy, then the political space would be tainted and no true democracy can be said to be in existence.

Consensus candidate is a product of imposition. By imposition, political godfathers and party mini gods practically pick and choose favoured candidates and godsons at will without any concern for the good and progress of the party. Such godfathers prefer their loyalists to popular candidates with no regards to members’ interest or choice. Hence they forget the key ingredient of internal democracy is the avoidance of imposition of candidates on the party. Every candidate interested in an elective office should be given the opportunity to test his popularity within his party by democratically – conducted primaries which will produce the most popular candidate for the election proper.

Anything short of this is a total detour from democratic norms and this practice is a threat to democracy as it does not give room for party members to have a say in the choice of candidates to stand for the main election. It is breach of the fundamental rights of party members to deny them the right to elect, the candidates of their choice.

The idea of consensus candidates in Nigerian political parties reduces the morale of members. It is a practice that is capable of shaking the belief of members in their party and in its internal mechanisms. It is a direct affront to democracy which reduces the game of politics to a process of sheer selection, godfatherism, favouritism and particularism. No doubt, this is a total threat to our fledgling democracy.

Imposition of candidates on the party by some influential leaders has become the rule in Nigeria rather than the exception. This practice has destroyed many political parties and even their candidates whose political ambitions have been truncated undemocratically in preference for some anointed candidates. The party needs to be very careful to not give some political self-seekers who are mere politicians of fortune reasons to cross over to another party should they fail to realize their ambition.

It is dangerous to national security. It is worse than insurgency. In a democracy without democracy, there will be no government to fight insecurity and insurgency because people are government and if candidates are imposed, no one will have belief in the government and they won’t give any possible support. There will be a breakdown of law and order. Let us protect and preserve our democracy for posterity sake.

Ajayi Michael Abayomi,

Ondo State