Why Do Sitting MPs and DCEs Want to Contest Primaries Unopposed?

Why Do Sitting MPs and DCEs Want to Contest Primaries Unopposed?

By Alhajj Suleman

3rd March 2019

I sometimes find it extremely strange that people who are beneficiaries of democracy tend to be picky on some aspects of the same democracy they’ve benefitted from.

What do I mean? See, you have been elected as MP, appointed as minister/MMDCE/board chairman, e.t.c. on the basis of a system birthed by our democratic dispensation. The power to appoint you, is drawn from the constitution which is the bedrock of any credible democracy.

You wouldn’t have been an MP, MMDCE, or whatever appointee of government if there was no democracy.

Democracy means allowing the will of the people to prevail in order to derail the will of a totalitarian at whose behest society must live or sleep. That’s (totalitarianism) an artifact of the old we cannot glorify.

It appears the very people who are beneficiaries of the appointments which are creatures of democracy, themselves are antagonistic to the principles of democracy including allowing the will of the people to prevail. These beneficiaries become hysteric and overly offensive anytime they sense their position is under competition (I deliberately decided not to use the word ‘threat’ because in a democracy, competition cannot and must not be deemed as a ‘threat’). Virtually, they metamorphose to ‘territorial protectionists’ as soon as they’re appointed or elected; employing all foul means to fend off people they consider to be competitors.

One would think that in a democracy, the sense of judgement of the masses is respected in that, the masses are reasonably deemed to know which leader serves their interest and on that basis, choose such leaders over those they deem not to serve their interests. It’s therefore within reason that, instead of these appointees aka beneficiaries of democracy using foul means to undercut their perceived competitors, they’ll rather work to endear themselves to the masses whose judgement would reasonably favour them.

I find it puzzling when some of these appointees who themselves are beneficiaries of democratic competitions try to use higher authorities in our party to breathe down the throat of their perceived competitors to step down for them to contest unchallenged. Are we approbating democracy and reprobating it at the same time? Are we extolling the fruits (appointments) of democracy and debasing the tree that produced the fruits?

Please if you are fortunate to have benefitted from democracy by way of appointment, let your good works exonerate you. Use your good works to cement your position. Endear yourself to the masses on whose shoulders you have risen and desist from tactics that harbingers danger to the very democracy you have benefitted from.

I edge the NPP executives not to support any appointee who asks them to tell others to step down for them to go unopposed. As soon as an MP or MMDCE or appointee makes such request, you should know that, such an appointee has failed the people he was put in their charge to serve and must therefore be allowed to face the full brunt of his failed leadership at the polls.

We will resist any attempt to shield failed leaders through the step-down syndrome in our party as it is diametrically opposed to the foundations of the NPP!