AFRICA'S NEW DEMOCRACIES MUST LOOK AHEAD AS WELL AS AT TODAY

[USIA]

USIS Washington File

23 January 1998

AFRICA'S NEW DEMOCRACIES MUST LOOK AHEAD AS WELL AS AT TODAY

(McMahon 1/22 'Africa Journal' Worldnet) (1080)
By Robert Fullerton
USIA Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- Should short-term concerns about security and political
order take precedence over achieving "medium- and long-term stability"
in Africa's fledgling democracies?

Not necessarily, says Ed McMahon of the National Democratic Institute
for International Affairs.

"I don't think that anybody argues with the fact that the development
of a peaceful democratic culture of tolerance of other points of view,
of other ethnicities and regional affiliations, has to be a very
important part of developing democratic political institutions,"
McMahon said in a January 22 U.S. Information Agency Worldnet
television program.

McMahon's concern, however, is that the suppression of different
political voices for short-term ends will work against developing "the
stability that we all want in the medium to longer term." Instead, he
suggests, perhaps "we all have to be seeking ways that the wide range
of voices within a country can be heard, can be exercised, without
going that next step to promoting violence and to promoting conflict.

"That's why I would like to come back to this idea I have that all of
us seek to think through what kinds of political institutions can be
created that reflect fundamental, universal democratic values, but
which also minimize the number of losers in a system," he added.
"Because it's the losers in a political process who become the
discontented and seek to find redress by other means. That's really
the challenge that faces all of us."

McMahon made these points in an "Africa Journal" program broadcast via
satellite to Kinshasa, Abidjan, Conakry, Cotonou, and Kigali, entitled
"Africa: A New Continental Order."

According to McMahon, while it's clear that a tremendous political
revolution has occurred in Africa over the past decade, the
continent's future remains one "of risks and challenges" as well as
opportunity.

Saying that his focus would be "the question of political
liberalization," McMahon pointed out that the fundamental challenge to
new African democracies is that "the people have a right to have a
voice in the functions of their governments and a right to oversee the
actions" of their governments.

"I think that's already happened to a considerable extent with the
growth of civil society and the growth of the political voice," he
said. "But it's not happening everywhere on the continent. There are
elites that are not always open to broader political participation
and, of course, we see the challenges of ethnic and regional tensions
and pressures. So I think the book is very much open on this
question."

Asked about the role of armies in Africa's new democracies, McMahon
explained that the role of the military in nation-building --
particularly in a context "of political liberalization, where civilian
governments have become the norm" -- is yet to be defined on the
continent.

"Certainly, [the military's job is] to guard the borders," he said. "I
would [also] argue [it is] to act in a collective fashion on
international projects that may be decided by such organizations as
the Organization of African Unity or in concert with other countries.
But is there a need for the type of militaries that existed in the
past [as part of the colonial legacy]? I don't think so. And one of
the real challenges" facing Africa and the international community is
dealing with the disproportionately "huge budgets" still spent for
militaries.

The international community also has been seeking to redefine its role
in Africa's military issues, he noted, pointing to the African Crisis
Response Initiative (ACRI), "which has been put on the table and begun
to be implemented by the U.S. and other countries as well." The ACRI,
he said, seeks to provide training "to increase the capacity of
African militaries to help resolve conflicts on the continent without
interjecting military troops from outside of the continent. This type
of approach, I think, reflects a broader desire to help empower
Africans to try to resolve as fully as possible the conflicts and the
problems that they are facing."

But he also cautioned that this is "a very, very tricky issue" and
some have criticized the approach.

"They say, basically, this means the North [developed nations] is
washing its hands of any responsibility for dealing more directly with
the problems" of sub-Saharan Africa. "I don't think I really agree
with that. I think that we all have to think creatively about how the
North can most effectively empower Africa to address itself to the
issues that are on the table currently. But we are all learning as we
go along. And it may be that this ACRI turns out not to be the way to
go; I think we all have to have a continuing dialogue on these
issues."

Asked about the role of civil society in Africa's "new order,"
particularly in the area of conflict resolution, McMahon said it "has
a fundamental role in assuring transparency in governmental actions,
both at the local and national level...[making sure] that
parliamentary discussions [are] adequately transparent and seen by the
people...that judges or other senior government officials act within
the bounds of propriety in the question of wealth accumulation." He
pointed to an NGO program called Judicial Watch in the Philippines,
where judges, before they are appointed, register "how much money they
have...and every year the Watch assesses what their wealth is."

Besides ensuring transparency in their political systems, he suggested
that African nations recognize the idea of "alternating power," that
is, when you lose an election "you step out of power -- which is
fundamental to the idea of democracy" as practiced in the United
States.

He also said that he thought changes, "not just of presidents but also
within parliaments and other elected bodies," are extremely important.
"I am a realist, and we all recognize that in a context of
underdevelopment it is harder perhaps to undergo this alternance issue
-- but there are many ex-presidents now in Africa. I once asked an
ex-presidential candidate in Benin, who had lost his bid but who
maintained and won a seat in parliament...what it's like to lose an
election. He said it was not an experience he would like to repeat,
but that he hoped that his example 'of losing and still playing a part
in the life of my country' is the type of example that will be
repeated throughout the continent."