It is widely
understood that the ultimate guarantor of social peace is robust democratic
institutions such as elections. Elections that give voice to the people are in
essence a critical means of social conflict management through peaceful deliberations
and decision-making processes in which ‘winners’ carry out promised policy initiatives
and programs and ‘losers’ are given opportunity to serve as a loyal opposition,
and to try again in future competitions. Yet there is high probability that
when election is ill managed it leads to breakdown of law and order in the
society as it was after 2011 Nigeria presidential election.
According to
the conflict resolution scholar Louis Kriesberg, conflict is a general term
that “arises when two or more persons or groups manifest the belief that they
have incompatible objectives”. For the purpose of this article, election-related
violence or conflict is define as acts
or threats of coercion, intimidation, or physical harm perpetrated to affect and
or react to electoral process or that arise in the context of electoral
competition. When perpetrated to affect an electoral process, violence may be
employed to influence the process of elections such as efforts to delay,
disrupt, or derail a poll and to influence the outcomes.
Election-related
conflict has devastating effects on governance and development. When such
violence occurs, it often impairs the function of the governmental institutions
that emerge from processes where violence has tainted the fairness of the
process and the legitimacy of election outcomes. It can also degenerate into
loss of lives and property as it were in the 2011 presidential election that left more than 800 people dead.
Therefore as 2015 electing is gradually coming, there is need to recommend ways
to preventing election-related violence in other to avert a
repeat of history.
Strategies Aimed At Preventing
Electoral Violence
It is
imperative for Nigeria to build strong and credible institutions which would
increase the level of public trust and confidence in the electoral process as a
prerequisite for democratic-building and conflict management. Below are ways to
prevent election-related violence:
1.
Election
management body should assert its independence by resisting attempts by either
the government or political parties to influence it unduly. The independence of
the election management body must go beyond legislation to include the ability
to carry out its work in an independent manner that is obvious to the public.
2.
Electoral staffs
should be trained to handle election-day
complaints effectively before they
escalate into violence.
3.
There
should be a law backed up by the constitution to punish any electoral law
offender. This punishment should be big enough to deter politicians and other
actors that intend to rig the election or cause violence.
4.
Intensive
voter/civic education programs
concerned with election campaigns and polling, and also special programs/ activities aimed at preparing parties and candidates for election loss.
5.
Political
parties should educate their members against lawless acts that will disturb the
peace, before, during and after an election. There is the need for political
parties to work hard to strengthen their support base instead of seeking
opportunities to rig elections through intimidation and vote buying.
6.
Media
should refrain from hyping baseless allegations that will heighten political
tension before, during and after an election. The responsibility of the media
should include educating the public against acts of violence during elections.
7. There should be continuous dialogue among electoral stakeholders (political parties, INEC, human
rights organizations, security forces etc.) to create an agreement on the rules
of the game and also build-up commitment and relationships (exchange of information,
regular meetings, contingency planning). Dialogue
efforts are essential not only centrally but also on lower levels, ensuring
that district/village level conflicts
are resolved and that all actors respect the codes of conduct.
8. Election results should be
announced as soon as possible to eliminate thoughts and pressure to manipulate
the result.
9. The government (Incumbent
government) should ensure that all suspicion that it can manipulate the
electoral process in its favour is removed.
10. There
is need for law enforcement agents to maintain peace during and after the election
without being bias.
As
National Assembly is amending the Electoral Laws, I urge those responsible to
shade all personal gains and amend those laws that make it impossible to have
credible election in Nigeria while we hope that the military in collaboration with
the citizens deal with the threat posed by Hoko Haram to the continued
co-existence of the country.
Okechukwu Ajaegbu
Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement
Blog-
www.stateofthenationpolity.blogspot.com
Tweet- @okeyajax
