Covid-19: Jonathan Tells AU, ECOWAS, Postponing Elections Could Trigger Distrust And Constitutional Crises

Amidst the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic to the economic and political lives of nations, former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has urged the African Union and the continent’s sub-regional organisations to come to the aid of African nations whose scheduled major elections risk being shifted, as a means of avoiding political and constitutional crises on the continent.

The former President noted that many African nations that may not be able to organise periodic elections because of  coronavirus- imposed difficulty are already walking a tight rope, adding that those nations need the support of continental and sub-regional bodies as they seek stakeholders’ compromise on new options.

Dr. Jonathan stated this while speaking during a webinar organised by the Kofi Annan Foundation last weekend.

In West Africa, Presidential elections  are due to hold in the last quarter of 2020 in atleast five countries including Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso but there are doubts whether the elections will hold on schedule because of the effect of Covid-19 pandemic.

Noting that postponing presidential elections beyond constitutionally allowed limits could trigger citizen distrust and increase political tensions in many nations, the former President stated that a negotiated settlement is required to avoid crises.

He said further: “That is why I am suggesting that the AU and subcontinental bodies in Africa should begin now to warm up. They should start engaging those nations that have elections between now and September this year.”

The former President added that in cases that require some unusual measures to be taken to bring about postponed elections, the decision must involve all key stakeholders especially the political parties and the election management bodies.

Warning against what he called resort to pseudo democracies, Jonathan stressed that democracy should be practised to the letter. He said: ´Elections per se does not constitute a democracy. The credibility of elections, the transparency of the processes and the issue of trust from the citizens are key indicators of a functional democracy.”

He added: “This is the time that many continental bodies should come up with their own minimum standards for any country going into election to operate. Otherwise, people who ordinarily would have loved to be dictators will now exploit the problem of the COVID-19 pandemic and do what is not in line with the laws of the land.”

Making a case for electronic voting, the former President said: “One thing that is clear especially in Africa is that we must adopt electronic voting. This covid-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity and the need for Africa parliaments to take another look at the need to retool our electoral laws to bring an end to the analogue and manual voting methods which have now become problematic for the continent’s fragile democracies.”

He added that with lockdown measures announced, credibility of many elections going on at this period may be questionable.

“For democracy to be acceptable, elections must be credible; the process must be transparent and observers must participate especially for presidential elections.

He however pointed out that some countries have been able to experience positive developments arising from their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, he commended the role being played by different levels of government, especially in Nigeria where he observed that the state governments are now being forced to leverage potentials they had previously ignored.

“We’ve seen the role played by the state governments, and some of the state governments are even looking post-COVID-19 era for a better management of the economy of their people.

I have also seen what can be described as devolution of power where governors are exercising the powers which ordinarily they have,  based on the constitution, applying it to manage the affairs of their state. To me yes, the negative aspect on the elections are there, but there are also some positive things that can come out of it.”