Democracy isn’t an economic system; it is a system of self-governance. This means if we want democracy to be functional, we must strive for a more perfect union of people acting together for common causes, not just an alliance of the executive at the expense of the people.
In a functional democracy, the people are supposed to have more power than the government because the people are not in service of the government but the government is in service of the people.
Democracy is supposed to protect the people against autocratic rulers. But of late, this trend is being reversed, even in the so-called democratic countries. What we are seeing is the unveiling and rise of autocratic governments in democracies making the people powerless and voiceless victims.
No matter how many definitions there might be of freedom, it is unquestionable that freedom starts with the individual. A free individual is one that is not subjected to restrictions of any kind, although most countries globally continuously breach this code. However, freedom is more than the absence of restrictions because freedom regulates itself and that is something we should always keep in mind. Freedom is, therefore, the ability to be or do what I want but with consideration of agreed (not forced) limitations of those around me.
Brawls in Parliament have become prevalent the world over. The past three weeks have seen jaw-dropping moments in political arenas as the world witnessed brawls in, among others, South Africa and Turkey.
Ruling party and opposition lawmakers engaged in fist fights in Turkey, whilst the image of politicians and police trading blows at the opening of parliament in South Africa a couple of weeks ago was not only regrettable but wretched.
In South Africa’s case, things got out of hand because there was a breach in freedom resulting in angry retaliation through exchange of blows. Unorthodox, maybe, but parliament brawls have become not only a common sight but a second rate approach.
A recent annual report from Freedom House highlighted very disheartening statistics which revealed that global freedom declined for the ninth year in a row, with 60 percent of the world’s population living in countries that are not free. It is important to note that freedom here is the rights enjoyed by individuals, rather than governments.
Some of the causes identified which resulted in the decline in global freedom included internet censorship in USA, draconian laws passed in Russia to limit freedom of information, and terrorism – all of which causing unprecedented levels of discomfort the world over. As concerned citizens, the question we need to be asking ourselves is what a decline in global freedom means to us.
Without having to travel the entire length and breathe of the world, we can simply eavesdrop on what happened in neighbouring, South Africa where riot police dragged MPs of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters out of the chamber after the party interrupted President Jacob Zuma’s speech, and the Democratic Alliance, another opposition party, also walked out and accused the ruling ANC of becoming as oppressive as the apartheid regime before it.
What was more disheartening was that the ANC, under President Jacob Zuma’s watch, wants to chill dissent through censorship. The fact that they went to the extent of jamming mobile telephone reception inside the parliament was sad.
The South African government, like most African governments, is now resorting to censorship policies in a bid to silence its critics. The series of measures which undermine freedom of information and speech in South Africa are comparable to what we are seeing in countries such as Russia and North Korea where the governments are trying by all means to keep the general populace in the dark on the obscure dealings taking place inside government.
The problem with most governments in Africa is when they are pushed to the limits, they fail to adhere to pristine ethics – ethics they always pretend to subscribe to, yet they are quick and are first to disregard them.
In South Africa, it was a constitutional dilemma for the riot squad to remove all EFF members from parliament instead of the 3 members that the speaker had cautioned. She ordered the entire EFF caucus to be ejected when some of them did nothing wrong. The security forces were not called in as the Speaker made us believe, but were already there as part of a planned operation to jam the live feed so that they can get rid of the EFF MP’s.
The timing of the jam, camouflage of the police officers and the precise and effective action by the officers did not just undermine and breach people’s freedom but proved the overburden that democracy is being subjected to. Democracy is being abused by autocratic leaders and those with money to influence the decision making process. The ANC, like most governments, wants to change rules to please themselves.
The opposition in South Africa, that is, EFF and DA, had valid questions which should have been answered in parliament. But the arrogant presiding officers tried by all means to avert accountability because they did not have answers to questions which were being addressed to them.
On the other hand, Zuma proved to be unprofessional and unseasoned when he failed to mention a word about the raging chaos in his State Of Nation Address.
Obviously, respecting every individual’s freedom is the first step in restoring freedom because nations are made up of individuals. Unfortunately, that seems to be a distant reality because freedom scares those in authority, especially in Africa, and that is where our problems begin and get worse.
True democracy supposes equal political rights. Democracy is likely to work better when the military, government, business and people are in balance. However, the reality is there are disparities in the balance of power amongst these groups.
An example is Egypt were the military has the most power which makes democracy fail.
Democracy must be protected or else it will no longer hold and be sustaining. And unfortunately, it is always the voice of the masses that suffers the most.
