Subject: ELECTION IMPASSE

The National Electoral Commission(NEC) has analysed the merits and demerits of various electoral systems and their conclusions, simplistically put are as follows: 1.Constituency elections as per the 1991 constitution will not be feasible for at least two years because of problems with displacement of people, fair delineation of constituencies in the absence of reliable census results and the inability to have a new census soon. 2. The proportional representation(PR) system used in the last election, though expedient, does not peg parliamentary representation to geographical areas-areas do not feel represented and Parliamentarians will not be accountable to a particular section of the electorate. 3. A District based electoral system by which each District(the western area will be regarded as two electoral districts) is represented by six parliamentarians on a proportional representation basis is a hybrid of the previous two. It ties representation to areas and can be executed in a very short time. This is recommend by the NEC.

NEC’s proposal has been torn apart by various groups. Parliamentarians of all shades of the political divide(including some SLPP MPs) seem to prefer the constituency based system as it will perpetuate their stay in office since such an election will not be possible soon. The SLPP as a party seems to favour the District based PR system. With more Districts in their traditional strongholds in the South and East and with the incumbency advantage, favouring them, they claim they are ready. The opposition seems to be running scared and their reasoning goes thus: The SLPP has the advantages of incumbency-the dishing out of microcredit payments and other forms of aid, the access to logistics and some even claim the support of the mainly South eastern based CDF would give the party an edge. They seem to be united in calling for an interim government after the present extension expires in September. They are not however in complete agreement as to the nature of such an interim government. One grouping calls for representation from various parties (leading to accusations by the SLPP that all they want is political power to further their own ends). Another calls for various facets of civil society to be represented in government.

In the meantime the 1991 constitution apparently leaves the extension issue open ended-there are no limits to how many six months extensions can be granted to the government as long as there is a war related situation , making it impossible to hold constituency elections. The SLPP seems to be in a vantage position. The parliamentarians are likely to vote for extensions ad infinitum. If the opposition calls for an early election, the SLPP will have the incumbency advantage and will call their bluff. If they choose to have constituency elections, the SLPP will stay in power for a long time until such elections are possible. Only an interim government will be advantageous to the opposition.

Talk about strange bedfellows?- The parties united on the interim government issue include the NUP whose leadership in the past has regarded the APC as anathema, the APC, the PDP, consisting largely of ex APC members, and the RUF which fought against all and the Democratic party, fighting for change. It is hard to gauge whose views will carry the day. This confusion was bound to happen as the 1991 constitution muddles up the extension issue and does not allude to an interim government. We are living in interesting times indeed.