Namibia: Media, Politics And Elections

Opinion- Sometimes when we remain inside the box, any small hole in that box becomes the only windowpane that helps to shape the social reality that we perceive to exist outside the box.

Although the Namibian media is performing well in providing equitable coverage to political parties, they are also concocting narrow narratives to keep those addicted to sensation to buy these products. This is an archive communication model that we should revisit during tea-breaks to strengthen our appreciation of the role that the media can play as an effective silver bullet to soften the minds of people for indoctrination.

We should know the relative strength and impact of the media's position in society and its capacity to shape public opinion for a good or bad cause. Therefore, unintended careless reporting and analysis could impact very negatively on the democratisation experiment with specific reference to the electoral process that Namibia is currently going through.

As an example both the editorial and Post-Scriptum of The Namibian of Friday October 23, 2009 concluded that the new electoral developments are conditional outcomes of past mistakes that should serve as future references. It may be true but only if we adopt the consequential model that seems to reject the active corollary that positive developments can sometimes result from good judgment and calculated opportunism.

While I concur with both Alfredo (Hengari) and Gwen (Lister) that positive lessons must be learnt from past mistakes and that the ECN should become better at doing things, I want to add value to their arguments with an old-fashioned critique that political interference (from both opposition and ruling party) in the day-to-day administration of an electoral body will impact negatively on the administration of elections irrespective of who is in charge. Political interference will not contribute much toward Alfredo's model of making credible elections become a particle of the nation's political DNA to fast-track, as he correctly prefers, "the transition towards a certain degree of modernity".

The question that needs perhaps deconstruction and further investigation is whether political interference in the day-to-day functions of the electoral body is justified to support an end. The point remains that politicians will fight to achieve their political interests that at times are not necessarily synonymous or inclusive of national interest. They are like chameleons and can change colour instantly once their political interests (power) have been achieved.

In my view, the media appear to take a narrow and dogmatic approach to appraising the relationship between the ECN and political parties. I could be wrong, but I sensed that the media was celebratory in content and patronising in style as they offered an "I-told-you-so" type of advice to the losers (perceived to be the ECN), to learn from its mistakes and up their ante. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that advice. However, the good intention of that analysis irrespectively, could still provide incentives for political parties to intensify their continuing interfering in the day-to-day administration of the electoral process. In fact, there are multiple forces (political, civil and the media) that could be contesting these elections either as candidates or perhaps on behalf of chosen/preferred partners, but still under "the cloud of innocence ...". These contestants may profess objectivity, morality and claims of representing the interests of the impoverished masses. This will lead me perhaps to ask the orthodox question: Who is who in this electoral process?

The question surrounding the printing of the ballot papers has been resolved. Everyone is of course claiming victory for this highly improvised and reconciliatory outcome. In my view the electoral process itself is the winner of the gold medal because no one will be de-franchised through election boycotts and perceived tampering with results.

The silver medals will go to all the winners of the November elections because they will represent the next generation of leadership chosen by the electorates. The media in my view will scoop the bronze medal for their patronising politicians, who use them as platforms of public relations instead of scrutinising the promises to voters that are normally never kept.

The outgoing legislators are the losers because they did not engage electoral matters in Parliament effectively during their five-year holiday in Parliament. We all hope that these elections will deliver equipped and polished parliamentarians to improve not only on the achievements of the outgoing parliamentarians, but also the general quality of debate in Parliament. Parliament is where politicians should fight their battle instead of using the ECN as a battlefield.

Now that the political contest for the printing of ballot paper is over, the focus is slowly shifting to the register which is clearly an agenda of certain politicians who are conscious of the fact that the more registrants, the more votes would be required to send a single politician to Parliament. This is pure mathematical witchcraft which some of the crafty politicians are exploiting to punch some holes in the register.

As for the media, it is a matter of editorial choice to sustain the focus and pressure on the ECN exclusively. The ECN has not tried to defend itself, but rather constructively channelled its energy in building bridges of understanding with the media and political parties because of the value and credibility that they add to the electoral process.

It is clear that without the media, crucial information about registration and voting operations will not reach the voters. The perfection of any country's voter register is a long process that demands adequate resources, institutional networking and cooperation. It is also an issue that should be supported through proper legislations and laws.

But as has been stated repeatedly by the electoral body, the right of the people (who registered) to vote will not be compromised by marginal percentage errors in the voter register. Eligible voters with valid voting cards will not be de-franchised as both the Director of Elections and Chairman of the Commission explained recently.

Now that an independent company will print the ballot papers, the nation will have a picture that approximates the truth about precisely how many people have registered and cast their votes in the end. The actual voting in November will put all speculations permanently to rest. Those who are no longer with us whose names are being used insensitively by crafty politicians to punch some holes in the register as part of their campaign strategies will still not be counted to have voted.

I will conclude this personal intervention with the following points of reference:

1. The ECN needs the support of its media partners and political parties to achieve a high voter turn-out during the November elections. Sustained negativism will create voter apathy and disillusionment.

2. Politicians must provide voters with clear choices about who to vote for instead of sustained attack and discrediting of the electoral process.

3. The media must strive to achieve a degree of neutrality and objectivity in their reporting of electoral matters. Sustained judgment of the ECN should not be a substitute for positive criticism. We must not judge the electoral process before people have cast their votes.

4. Prominent scholars must not be blindly addicted to preaching neo-liberalism that normally rejects materialism as the basis of social and economic critique of society. We need critical scholars capable of taking holistic approaches.

5. The views I have expressed in this article are entirely my own. They emanate from a media scholar and experienced citizen, who understands the role that the media can play to perfect our democratic system.

These views should not be construed as a reaction to the editorial and Post-Scriptum of the The Namibian newspaper of Friday October 23, 2009. It is only a critique of the ongoing reportage of the electoral process by all the media, to add value to the ongoing debate about how best they (media) can serve the electorates.

- Dr Rukee Tjingaete is a PhD holder in mass media from Michigan State University. His dissertation research was on the topic: "The Intersection of Class, Race and Politics on Access to NBC TV".

 

- October 29, 2009 by DR Rukee Tjingaete

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Source: allafrica.com/stories/200910290885.html (accessed 30.10.2009)