Independent candidates are NRM selfish spoilers
Jan 10, 2006
<b>By Tarsis Kabwegyere</b><br><br>A multiparty system cannot be led by independents. It would be a contradiction in terms. Multipartism means political players are aligned.
By Tarsis Kabwegyere
A multiparty system cannot be led by independents. It would be a contradiction in terms. Multipartism means political players are aligned.
The party with a majority in the first instance leads. In a case where there is no party with a working majority, a coalition may be formed to combine two or more parties to produce a working formula, nevertheless with parties keeping their identity. Israel is a case in point.
Coalition governments are basically unstable because continued agreement is not easy to maintain.
Democracy, and multiparty democracy in particular, works on the principle of majority. That is why free and fair elections and vote counting are inescapable working rules. It is inconceivable that the February 23 elections in Uganda will reproduce a majority of Members of Parliament that have the label independents. If this happened it would be a great tragedy for Uganda. It would be worse than a stalemate. It would reflect a politically worse than mad electorate! An independent president with independent MPs! What a scenario!
There is no chance in a billion that independents would take over a government unless they dissolved their independence to become a party. A coalition of independents is unthinkable. By the time water, sand, cement and stones produce concrete, each of them has surrendered its independence!
The few Ugandan independents I have heard of are those who yesterday stood as candidates in NRM primaries and lost and then acquired a new label of independent! How independent are these gentlemen and ladies? You are not independent only when you win!
For whatever reason a person lost in the primaries, there is a higher good that that person should have gone to politics for. Winning alone cannot give you power in a multiparty dispensation!
Democracy is about individual win, yes, but as part of a cohesive organisation determined to get power to serve the people — All people.
When you lose and then fight society because of your loss as an individual, there is a problem of defining your goal in politics.
Politics is about managing conflict in society. No one individual can solve social problems alone, as an individual. Not even the king — there is a king’s court with chiefs, retainers, etc. Even a dictator that lasts sometime must have beneficiaries of his/her dictatorship! There is no lone dictator!
Democracy is a rule by the many for all in society. An
independent is an individual.
He/she only wins because there are many like him above those who are aligned. It is a protest vote which cannot lead to the formation of a government and implement a manifesto.
Independents in the current setting of our politics are simply spoilers. They may be aggrieved individuals but they must think of the country.
Where will the country go with independents? It is not the country that led to their loss! The country is bigger than a few of us who enter the political game. Although our failure can be attributed to some other individuals, the destiny of Uganda is more than our anger, frustrations or even our individual success.
Five years is too short a time for independents to risk the life of a country. Too much personal anger in this case is a major threat to the stability of Uganda. Leaders who confuse the masses must learn to reconsider their step. Be builders instead of spoilers, notwithstanding the loss you may have suffered in primaries.
Independents are a threat to the emerging multipartism because they lack a sense of belonging to a group, gravitating to anarchy.
A multiparty system cannot be led by independents. It would be a contradiction in terms. Multipartism means political players are aligned.
The party with a majority in the first instance leads. In a case where there is no party with a working majority, a coalition may be formed to combine two or more parties to produce a working formula, nevertheless with parties keeping their identity. Israel is a case in point.
Coalition governments are basically unstable because continued agreement is not easy to maintain.
Democracy, and multiparty democracy in particular, works on the principle of majority. That is why free and fair elections and vote counting are inescapable working rules. It is inconceivable that the February 23 elections in Uganda will reproduce a majority of Members of Parliament that have the label independents. If this happened it would be a great tragedy for Uganda. It would be worse than a stalemate. It would reflect a politically worse than mad electorate! An independent president with independent MPs! What a scenario!
There is no chance in a billion that independents would take over a government unless they dissolved their independence to become a party. A coalition of independents is unthinkable. By the time water, sand, cement and stones produce concrete, each of them has surrendered its independence!
The few Ugandan independents I have heard of are those who yesterday stood as candidates in NRM primaries and lost and then acquired a new label of independent! How independent are these gentlemen and ladies? You are not independent only when you win!
For whatever reason a person lost in the primaries, there is a higher good that that person should have gone to politics for. Winning alone cannot give you power in a multiparty dispensation!
Democracy is about individual win, yes, but as part of a cohesive organisation determined to get power to serve the people — All people.
When you lose and then fight society because of your loss as an individual, there is a problem of defining your goal in politics.
Politics is about managing conflict in society. No one individual can solve social problems alone, as an individual. Not even the king — there is a king’s court with chiefs, retainers, etc. Even a dictator that lasts sometime must have beneficiaries of his/her dictatorship! There is no lone dictator!
Democracy is a rule by the many for all in society. An
independent is an individual.
He/she only wins because there are many like him above those who are aligned. It is a protest vote which cannot lead to the formation of a government and implement a manifesto.
Independents in the current setting of our politics are simply spoilers. They may be aggrieved individuals but they must think of the country.
Where will the country go with independents? It is not the country that led to their loss! The country is bigger than a few of us who enter the political game. Although our failure can be attributed to some other individuals, the destiny of Uganda is more than our anger, frustrations or even our individual success.
Five years is too short a time for independents to risk the life of a country. Too much personal anger in this case is a major threat to the stability of Uganda. Leaders who confuse the masses must learn to reconsider their step. Be builders instead of spoilers, notwithstanding the loss you may have suffered in primaries.
Independents are a threat to the emerging multipartism because they lack a sense of belonging to a group, gravitating to anarchy.